Finding Hope
by HisButterflygrl
Summary: Sequel to Finding Beauty. How will Hermione's surprise announcement effect her and Dean's lives? Rated T for mild language. Fairly AU with some cannon episodes.
1. Grenade

**Author's Notes: Hi readers! I'm back! Here's the sequel finally! Again, I do not own the characters from Harry Potter or Supernatural. They belong to their creators.**

 **Chapter Inspiration: Grenade by We Are The In Crowd**

* * *

 **Chapter 1**

Dean's breath left him in a whoosh. The words: "Dean, I'm six months pregnant," bounced around in his brain. He had so many questions, accusations, and feelings, that he needed to process. If he were being honest, his first instinct was to run. Run as far away from the situation, as fast as he possibly could. The world was becoming increasingly dangerous, it was definitely not the most opportune time to be bringing a baby into it.

Hermione stood silently, watching Dean's face after she told him. She saw a myriad of emotions registering, just not long enough to identify one. She started wringing her hands, becoming increasingly worried with each moment that passed, and he didn't say anything in reply. She mentally facepalmed, telling herself she should have just wrote it in a letter, and sent it to him, like her friends had suggested after she refused to come tell him in person after finding out.

"I don't want you to feel unnecessarily responsible, I just thought you should know." Hermione said softly, after a while.

"What?" Dean snapped, her words a shocking non-comfort to him.

"What?" Hermione asked, confused.

"I'm trying to process this situation, and that does not help." Dean said, his words still short and cross sounding.

"Do you want me to go while you process?" Hermione asked, dread crawling up her back.

"That's probably wise." Was all her hunter replied.

Tears filled Hermione's eyes, and Dean almost second questioned his decision to send her away. He was scared, and angry, and as much as he wanted to question her, he needed to figure out what he was going to do. He resisted any urge he had to touch her, and just watched her head lower, so that she was looking at the ground.

"Take all the time you need. I'm just going to aparate back to Hogwarts." Hermione told him, fighting back the tears threatening to fall.

She turned, and left Dean standing between a row of cars in Bobby's salvage yard. Walking with her head down, shoulders slumped, she made her way from where she'd given him the news, back to Bobby's house. He and Sam, were sitting in the kitchen when she opened the screen door to get her duffle. Bobby heard the door and got up to go investigate. He was surprised to see her alone, and grabbing the bag she'd arrived with.

"What's going on?" He asked.

"I have to go back to Hogwarts. I'll pop in for a longer visit sometime, I promise." Hermione said hurriedly, keeping her head down to prevent him from seeing her tears.

"Are you sure kiddo? You're more than welcome to stay." Bobby asked. He was searching his brain for any reason why Hermione would be running away so soon after arriving.

"I can't stay right now Bobby. I've got to go. It was nice meeting you Sam." Hermione told Bobby, before pitching her voice louder so that Sam could hear her parting words.

"It was nice meeting you too, Hermione!" Sam called from the kitchen.

With that, she rushed out Bobby's front door before he could hug her. She walked over to the spot where a rubber duck portkey had transported her from here to Hogwarts, nearing a year ago. With a last, stuttered breath, she jerked her wand, and was back in England.

Hogwarts

Hermione was back in the stone courtyard, at the main entrance to the school. She quickly wiped the tears from her face, before rushing through the large double doors. Nobody seemed to be around, so she walked, as fast as her belly would let her, back to where her quarters were. Now, the tears were falling steadily from her eyes, and down her cheeks, leaving gleaming tracks in their wake. As luck wouldn't have it for Hermione, she ended up running into Ron and Hannah.

"Oy, what's going on?" Ron asked Hermione, when she literally bumped into him.

"I'm sorry Ron." Hermione squeaked.

"Hermione?" Ron asked. He hadn't expected her to show back up at the castle, much less crying.

"I don't want to talk about it Ron." Hermione told him, moving to step around him, and finish her trek.

"What happened?" Ron continued, however he got shushed by Hannah, who put her hand on Ron's arm.

"Whenever you want to talk Hermione, you've got friends who will listen." Hannah said gently.

"Thanks Hannah. Right now, all I want to do is curl up in my bed." Hermione told her.

Ron and Hannah watched Hermione continue on her way, sympathetic expressions on their faces.

"What do you think happened?" Ron asked Hannah.

"I don't know, but give her some space. She'll talk when she's ready." Hannah told him.

Sioux Falls, South Dakota

Dean stood in the same spot in the yard as he'd been in when Hermione dropped her bombshell news on him. Not much had changed since he told her it was best if she left, he was still confused as ever, but now it was nearing midday. He'd heard the crack of her disaparating, but even that wasn't enough to propel him to movement.

He wasn't sure how he was feeling about it. Sure, the importance of family had been drilled into his head since childhood, but never did he think he was ever going to face something like this. This was a whole new mountain of responsibility he wasn't ready for. He scrubbed his hands down his face when the bang of the screen door sounded in the silence around him. He didn't bother to look to see who'd joined him.

"Mind telling me why Hermione just took off in such a hurry?" Bobby asked, his arms crossed over his chest.

"I need time to think, and I think it's best I do it alone." Dean replied, refusing to look at his father figure.

"Whatever you did to her, fix it. She was trying not to show it, but damn it, she was crying." Bobby told him.

Hearing he'd made Hermione cry hurt, but he knew sending her back home while he processed was the right thing to do. "She's pregnant." He said the words out loud for the first time.

"Say what?" Bobby asked, his eyes wide.

"She came to tell me she is six months pregnant." Dean replied.

"Good job, you idjit." Bobby replied.

"Trust me Bobby, you can't beat me up more for this situation than I already am." Dean told the older hunter.

"Get your head on straight, and fast, boy. That girl is head over heels for you." He told Dean.

"How would you know?" Dean sniped in reply.

"I knew before we even went to England. It was there, plain as day." Bobby studied Dean for a moment. He looked weary, but when he'd told the young man that he knew for sure Hermione loved him, he seemed to lift a little. "For whatever it's worth, you ain't John."

Dean's back went ramrod straight. Without knowing it, Bobby had pinpointed the crux of his struggle. The one thing that reigned through the chaos of everything else he was thinking, and feeling. There was only one person though who could tell him that for sure, and he was still inside, wondering what all had just happened.

Hogwarts

Hermione collapsed on her bed, pulled the covers over her head and let loose the sobs she'd had built up. She didn't know for sure, but she could guess that she was on her own to raise hers, and Dean's baby. She would tell her little one someday how much she'd loved their dad, but that it just was never meant to be. She'd tell her son, or daughter, that it was a wrong time, wrong place type of situation. She rubbed her hand over her belly feeling a gentle kick press into the palm of her hand. She would know the gender of the baby by this time in two weeks. The thought was equally bittersweet. She wanted Dean to be there, she wanted him to want their child as much as she did. Unfortunately, she couldn't make him, and she had to let him go.

Crying harder, she buried her head under the pillows to stifle any sounds she made. She didn't want anyone walking by her room to hear her bawling like a baby. She was sure Ron and Hannah had already told Harry she was back, and that she'd been crying. No doubt he'd try checking on her, but she wasn't ready to face him either. Though her friends would never say it, she could hear the "I told you so's." If only she'd gone to him, and told him sooner. Perhaps the outcome would have been very different. If only she hadn't hidden behind the rebuild, and her fears, then maybe she wouldn't feel so alone. Another kick to her hand, and the loneliness eased some. Just a piece of him remained, and she planned on keeping little he or she, safe and sound.

Meanwhile, Harry was making his way across the castle to Hermione's quarters. He didn't know what happened, but Ron was certainly fit to be tied. He'd tracked Harry down to convince him that they needed to make a trip to South Dakota to beat up Dean. It took Harry the better part of an hour to talk him out of that plan, at least until they knew what exactly happened. Leaving Ginny to handle her brother, Harry took off. He figured he might be able to get the story out of his distraught friend, better than the hot head.

He could hear her muffled sobs when he reached her door. Whatever happened, it may just be enough to warrant a trip to the States. Raising his hand, he knocked on the heavy wood door.

"Who is it?" Hermione asked, her nose sounding stuffed, voice broken.

"Hermione, it's Harry. You okay in there?" He asked.

"I'm fine Harry, go away." Hermione called out.

"No. I'll sit out here until you open the door. I warn you though, I can go days without meals." Harry said firmly.

He heard some movement, and figured it was a good sign. When the door opened, he smirked at her unusually haggard appearance. Her hair was a mess, her clothes were wrinkled, her face was tear stained, and her nose was leaking like a faucet. "You're a downright git. You know that, right?" She told him.

"So, I've been told on occasion. What happened Hermione? Not talking about it, isn't going to do you any good." Harry said conversationally to his friend, pushing past her to sit on the edge of her bed.

Rolling her eyes, Hermione shut the door and sat next to Harry. "He doesn't want us Harry. That's what happened." She told him.

"What did he say?" Harry asked.

"I asked if I should come back here, and he said that me coming back here would be for the best." Hermione replied, her arms coming around her belly.

"Wait, you need to tell me the context here. You're not making a lot of sense." Harry said, trying to piece what happened together. "Tell me everything, from the beginning."

"I got to Bobby's, and I officially got to meet the brother who's supposed to be dead. Then, Dean and I went out in the yard, so I could tell him. For a while he didn't say anything, so I told him that I didn't tell him to add unnecessary responsibility, but just felt he should know. He snapped at me telling me that what I'd said didn't help him process the situation, so I offered to come back, and well, you know the rest." Hermione told him.

"Hermione, I'm going to be blunt with you. Can you really blame the poor guy?" Harry asked rhetorically. "I know you have crazy, pregnant woman hormones going on, but you're still the same, smart person. Imagine if he showed up here at Hogwarts, with a child, and laid a similar bombshell on you. Wouldn't you want some time to process it too?"

"That situation would be different." Hermione replied stubbornly.

"Didn't you tell me once that he reacts first and thinks later to sudden situations? Remember when you told me about the djinn hunt? You told me that he yelled at you because he'd been afraid, that he thought he'd made a mistake that was going to cost you your life. You told me that he plans, and strategizes before going into a hunt, and that surprises, he doesn't handle well. You said that yourself Hermione. Think about this logically. You surprised him, so now he must work that into whatever is going on in his life. I'd have been worried if he didn't need to process it." Harry countered.

"I'm going to lose him." Hermione sniffed.

"It's a possibility, I'm not going to lie, but somehow I doubt it." Harry told her. He had a feeling all was going to turn out fine in the end.

"I don't. You encouraged me to tell him right away, but I was too scared to do it. He probably hates me." Hermione replied.

"Like I said, I somehow doubt it." Harry said, patting Hermione on the knee before standing. "Try thinking about this situation logically, and get some rest."

"I'll try." Hermione replied shooting her friend a slight crooked smile.

Harry exited her quarters, thinking on everything she'd said. He knew Dean loved Hermione. He'd seen it during the Battle of Hogwarts. The way he'd looked at her then, told Harry everything he needed to know. Now, he wondered what the other side of her story was. He found himself wondering what Dean would tell him. Deciding he needed to hear the other side of the story himself, Harry painted a picture of Singer Salvage from Hermione's descriptions, and stories. With a jerk of his wand, he left the residence corridor of Hogwarts, and landed in South Dakota.


	2. Shatter Me

**Author's Note: As always, I don't own either the Harry Potter or Supernatural characters. Spoiler warning for the season 6 episode: Unforgiven.  
**

 **Chapter Inspiration: Shatter Me by Lindsey Stirling featuring Lzzy Hale**

* * *

 **Chapter 2**

Sioux Falls, South Dakota

It took Harry a moment to get his bearings, once he apparated in the Singer Salvage drive way. Looking around, he realized just how much everything looked just as Hermione had said. The house was in front of him, and the salvage yard was to his left. She'd truly spared no detail, when telling him about this place.

Pocketing his wand, he made his way to the house. He hadn't even reached the steps when the door opened revealing a surprised looking Bobby. The older hunter looked exactly the same to Harry as he had the night they'd met. Bobby exited the house, a cup in his hand. Harry was prepared for this, as Hermione had said this was how the hunters made sure their visitors were human.

"Water?" Bobby asked Harry.

"Thank you." Harry replied, accepting the cup offered. Taking a sip, he handed it back.

"Good to see you again Harry." Bobby said, taking the cup back from the young wizard.

"You too Bobby." Harry replied.

"I'm guessing you're here to talk to Dean?" He asked.

"Yeah." Harry said, his hands jammed into the pockets of his jeans.

"Go easy on him. He's still in shock." Bobby said, moving to open the door.

"I understand. I'm just here to get his side of the story." Harry replied.

"How's she holding up?" Bobby asked, worried for the young witch.

"Not well." Was all Harry said.

With a nod, Bobby led Harry into the house. When the door banged shut behind him, a tall guy appeared in the doorway to Harry's right. Harry surmised the guy was well over six feet tall, taller than anyone he knew, besides Hagrid. He surmised this must be Dean's brother.

"Friend of yours?" The man asked.

"Sam, this is Harry. He's one of Hermione's friends." Bobby replied. "Harry, this is Dean's younger brother, Sam."

"Nice to meet you." Harry replied, removing a hand from his pocket to shake Sam's hand.

"You too." Sam said, accepting Harry's handshake.

"Where's Dean?" Bobby asked.

"Holed up in one of the bedrooms upstairs." Sam said, jerking his head to indicate the staircase.

"Go on up." Bobby said to Harry.

"Thanks." Harry addressed the men.

He walked to the stairs, and took them cautiously, one at a time. He wondered just what state he was going to find Dean in, and if it was going to be similar to the state he'd found Hermione. He really hoped not. At the top of the stairs, there was an open door in front of him leading into a bathroom, and another to his left that he saw was an empty bedroom. However, to his right was a closed door. He surmised that's where Dean was holed up. Taking a right, Harry walked to the door and knocked.

"Go away!" Dean yelled.

"Hermione tried the same thing on me too. It didn't work out so well for her. I just came to talk." Harry replied. "If I have to, I'll sit out here until you open that door, and I can go for days without eating."

"I don't want to talk. I want to think." Dean tried again.

"Talk to me first, then I'll let you to your thoughts." Harry replied.

"I suppose you're here to yell at me." Dean said to Harry through the door.

"Nope. Not on the agenda. Unless you're planning on giving me a reason to yell at you." Harry told him. "Though I should tell you, I spent nearly an hour convincing Ron he shouldn't just pop over here and yell, like he wanted to do."

The door opened suddenly, revealing a haggard looking Dean. The only difference between Dean's, and Hermione's appearances, were that she'd been crying. Dean hadn't been, though his eyes were bloodshot. The glass bottle in his hand told Harry why he had the bloodshot eyes. "What do you want to talk about?" He asked.

"I just want to hear your side of the story. Hermione came back to Hogwarts bawling, because she's convinced you don't want anything to do with her or your child." Harry replied, hands in his pockets once again.

"Why would she say that? I never said that!" Dean said, his voice instantly defensive, and loud.

"I didn't say you said that, and this is why I'm here. Her pregnant woman hormones are overshadowing logic at the moment." Harry replied.

Dean's shoulders slumped. Pushing the door the rest of the way open, he walked over to the bed Hermione had slept in while she was there, sitting on the edge. Seeing the opportunity for what it was, Harry entered the room slowly and sat on the edge of the other bed, facing the hunter.

"I never expected her to show up after six months and tell me she was pregnant." Dean started quietly.

"I don't imagine you did. That would be a shock for anyone." Harry replied. "Ginny, Ron, Ron's girlfriend, Hannah, and I, all tried to convince her to come tell you sooner."

"I know. She told me." Dean told him. He wasn't sure what all Hermione had told him, so he was treading carefully.

"Okay." Harry replied. "So, what happened?"

"I needed to think. This wasn't in my plans, ever. I'm a hunter Harry, I'm not exactly what a kid wants as a father. Not to mention the world is about to get a whole lot scarier. What happens if whatever big bad I'm up against, comes after her and my kid, just to get to me?" Dean asked.

"That's understandable. I hear that you were raised by a hunter?" Harry asked.

"If you want to call it that." Dean replied bitterly.

"Okay, so what happened after you realized you needed to think about this situation?" Harry asked.

"She gave me some bullshit about her not telling me so that I will feel unnecessarily responsible." Dean replied, his voice slightly angered.

"To be fair, her heart was in the right place. She was trying to tell you that if you wanted to not be a part of their life, that you could choose that." Harry told him. "She doesn't want to pressure you into anything. I know her, that's the last thing she would do."

"I get it. I kind of snapped, told her that what she'd said didn't help the situation, and that I needed to process. She offered to go, so I said that would be best, because I didn't want her to see me like this. This is how I process. I get cranky, and I drink too much." Dean told Harry, hanging his head.

"Okay." Harry replied standing.

"What do you mean 'okay?'" Dean asked, bewildered by Harry's response.

"Like I said, I just wanted your side of the story. That's all." Harry told him, shrugging.

"Bobby says she loves me." Dean said in a low voice.

"That's something you have to talk to her about. I'm not getting in the middle of that." Harry replied.

"Okay. Just tell her that I need some time. You can probably tell her better than I did." Dean told the young wizard.

"I will. It's just as I figured it was. I tried telling her that this was about you needing some time, but Hermione's stubborn on a good day." Harry joked.

"It was good to see you Harry." Dean replied, shooting Harry a friendly smile.

"You too Dean. Sober up and think seriously. Just don't let her hang for too long." Harry warned. "Her hormones have a way of making very sharp U-turns unexpectedly."

Dean chuckled, picturing Hermione a crying mess one minute, and angry enough to send him another howler the next. "Thanks for the warning."

"No problem mate." Harry said exiting the room.

He made his way back downstairs, satisfied with the answers Dean gave him. He was ready to go back to Hogwarts, and pound some logic back into Hermione's hormone soaked brain. Thanking Bobby and Sam, he walked back out to the driveway, where he apparated back to the residency corridor of Hogwarts.

Once back at Hogwarts, Harry made his way back to Hermione's quarters. This time, there was no noise coming from the other side of the door. He knocked, but there was no response. Figuring she was resting like he'd suggested; Harry went in search of Ginny, to hang out with her before trying to talk some sense into his pregnant friend.

Sioux Falls, South Dakota

To say Sam was confused as to everything going on with Dean would be an understatement. First, a young woman showed up, then left again, abruptly. She had obviously said something to Dean that had him holed up in a bedroom upstairs, refusing to talk. Then, another young man came to see his brother. He'd shown up, and left just as abruptly as well. Bobby seemed to know the two-young people who came to see his brother, but he wasn't telling Sam much of anything. He stuck to his books, mumbling something that sounded like "idjits," every so often.

Deciding he'd been left out of the loop long enough, Sam climbed the stairs to confront his older brother. Unlike earlier, the bedroom door wasn't closed. He found Dean sitting on one of the beds, a nearly empty bottle of whiskey dangling from one hand.

"What's going on with you?" Sam asked, propping his shoulder on the door frame.

"I'm not down with the sharing and caring Sammy, you know that." Dean replied, not looking at him.

"You're going to have to talk at some point." Sam told him.

"I don't want to talk. Like I told Harry, I want to think." Dean replied, his eyes fixed on a spot on the opposite wall.

"This is about whatever it is Hermione wanted to talk to you about." Sam observed.

"Thank you captain obvious." Dean muttered.

"Jerk." Sam bit out.

"Bitch." Dean shot back, a small smile tugging at the corner of his mouth at the use of their familiar banter.

"Does Bobby have anything else on this Mother of All thing?" Dean asked, as a means to distract not only Sam from his sharing is caring crap, but himself too.

"No, nothing solid. He says it's quiet." Sam replied, knowing Dean was just trying to take the focus off him.

"Quiet, like quiet? Or quiet, like too quiet?" Dean asked, looking at Sam for the first time since he had arrived in the doorway.

"When's it ever just quiet?" Sam observed.

"Right." Dean shrugged.

At that moment, Sam's phone pinged in his pocket. Pulling it out to look at the screen, he saw that he'd received a text, from a number he didn't recognize. "Huh." He mused out loud.

"What?" Dean asked wondering what was up.

Sam pushed himself from the door frame, and walked over to Dean, angling the screen of the phone so he could see the text for himself. It said: _Sam_ _41.7088, -71.2735._

"Are those coordinates?" Dean asked his brother. "Who's it from?"

Sam shrugged. "I have no idea."

Sam pulled the phone back from Dean. "I suppose we should look into it." Dean remarked.

"Are you sure you want to?" Sam asked.

"Yeah, why wouldn't I?" Dean replied.

"It's just, you seem to have a lot on your plate right now. How about I look into things, and if there's a hunt here, then you can distract yourself with it." Sam suggested.

"Whatever." Dean replied, finally capping the bottle he'd been drinking from.

"At some point, you're going to have to tell me what's up." Sam said, moving back to the doorway.

Dean just gave Sam a look. He wasn't ready to talk. He'd done enough talking for now. If there was a hunt, that was a good thing. He could compartmentalize for a while. Take a break from the weight of the knowledge that he was on the verge of becoming a father, and whether he was going to take on the responsibility, or not.

Sam sighed, and left Dean to his thoughts. He was kind of hoping there wasn't a hunt, so Dean could just deal with whatever it was that was going on, and move forward, one way or another. He wasn't sure Dean was in the right place mentally to be going on a hunt, but he'd told his brother he'd look into it, so he would.


	3. Demons

**Author's Note: Still don't own the Harry Potter or Supernatural characters. Spoiler alert for episode Unforgiven.  
**

 **Chapter Inspiration: Demons by Boyce Avenue**

* * *

 **Chapter 3**

Sioux Falls, South Dakota

Dean gave Sam about 20 minutes to research, before he dragged himself to the bathroom to splash some cold water on his face, then he descended the stairs. He needed this to be a hunt. He needed to get his mind off of everything. Maybe it would give him some clarity. Entering the living room, he saw Sam sitting on Bobby's couch, laptop in his lap, and a phone to his ear.

"Well?" He asked Sam, once his younger brother had ended his call.

"Uh, Bristol, Rhode Island. Where 3 women have disappeared in the last week. Apparently the, uh victims, seemed to vanish into thin air." Sam replied, turning his laptop so Dean could see the information he had pulled up on the screen.

Now, this was starting to sound kind of promising. Taking a seat in Bobby's chair across from the couch Dean continued "Could be something. Who's the text from?"

"I don't know. Just kept ringing." Sam replied, perplexed.

"What's that about?" Dean wondered out loud.

"Could be another hunter looking for backup on his case. Who knows how many hunters I even met, working with the Campbell's, you know? But I think we should go." Sam replied.

Dean's defenses went up at the mention of the Campbell's. He was very leery of them, and the fact they let Sam hunt without his soul. The hunt was suddenly sounding less appealing than it had just minutes ago.

"Woah, wait, we just going to drop everything..." Dean started, before being cut off by Sam.

"Dude, two minutes ago you weren't doing anything." Sam pointed out.

"You got mysterious coordinates, from a mysterious Mr. X, leading to a mysterious town. That doesn't throw up red flags to you?" Dean asked, his brain zeroing in on the concerns he had about taking the hunt.

"I don't know, maybe, but that doesn't mean we can just ignore a bunch of missing girls." Sam pointed out.

Dean's relief to hear Sam say something like that was minute, when compared to the situation at hand. "Right?" Sam asked, when Dean didn't immediately respond.

Dean licked his lips and drew in a breath before saying "Okay, we'll check it out, but if things get squirrely, we dump out. Okay? "

"Okay." Sam agreed quickly. He had no problems checking it out, and bailing if things went wrong. Hell, he was almost worried they would have to bail because of Dean being too distracted, if Sam was being honest with himself.

Neither brother said anything, just got up to pack and load the Impala. Before they left Bobby's, the older hunter took one last opportunity to pull Dean aside for a talk.

"Dean, are you sure this is a good idea?" Bobby asked.

"I don't know, but I need a hunt right about now. Maybe it'll clear my head." Dean replied.

"What did Harry want with you?" Bobby asked the question he'd been curious about, ever since the young wizard showed up.

"He wanted to hear my side of the story. Apparently, Hermione showed up back in England crying, and telling Harry that I wanted nothing to do with her and the baby." Dean whispered to Bobby, so Sam wouldn't overhear. "He understands that I need time to come to terms, and figure out what I'm going to do."

"Don't leave her hanging long, son. I'd hate to see you ruin something good." Bobby commented.

"I don't know what I'm doing yet, but maybe I'll have some clarity after this hunt." Dean replied.

"If I hear from her, is there anything you want me to pass on?" Bobby asked.

"Just tell her I'm on a hunt with Sam, but don't tell her where." Dean replied. He didn't need her showing up in the middle of a hunt, where there was a possibility of her getting hurt.

"Got it." Bobby said. "Be careful out there, you idjits." Bobby pitched his voice to address both brothers.

"You got it Bobby." Sam replied from the passenger side door of the car.

Giving Bobby a nod, Dean turned and walked determinedly over to the driver's door, sliding in. Being back behind the wheel of Baby was always a happy place for him. He started her up, and peeled out of the driveway towards Rhode Island.

Hogwarts

Hermione had slept fitfully through the night. She kept having nightmares of Dean pretending to want her, then leaving her with a laugh at her weakest. Over and over, his cold laugh would echo through her head. When the sun first started peaking over the horizon, she slipped out of bed to prepare herself for the day. She peeled out of the clothes from the day prior that she'd slept in, changing into a fresh pair of jeans, a plain white, V-neck t-shirt, and a plaid button down she'd snuck from Dean's clothes when he had been staying at Hogwarts. Cuffing the sleeves, she went to the door to head down for some breakfast.

She walked carefully from the residency corridor to the Great Hall, softly humming a lullaby her mum used to sing to her. She was hoping to feel the same sense of calm now, as she did then. Upon entering the Great Hall, she discovered very few people there. Her friends apparently weren't up yet, which she supposed was all well and good anyway, because that meant she could try and forget what happened yesterday. She could move on without having to talk about it.

Unfortunately for her, moments after she started eating, Harry and Ginny arrived to have their breakfast. Spotting Hermione, Harry chose a spot next to her at the table so he could relate the talk he'd had with Dean.

"Good morning Hermione." Harry, and Ginny greeted.

"Morning." Hermione mumbled around her toast. Maybe luck wasn't on her side today.

"How are you feeling?" Harry asked.

"Like shit." Hermione responded.

"I had an interesting conversation with Dean yesterday." Harry commented.

"I'm sure you did." Hermione snarked.

"Hermione, he's just thinking about the situation. You caught him completely off guard. He's got a lot to think about, and very valid reasons for needing the time. He never said that he didn't want you or the baby." Harry said sternly.

"Then why did he send me back?" Hermione snapped, her hormones now settling on the angry way of handling things.

"Hermione, he didn't send you back. You suggested it, and he took you up on your offer. Don't place that blame on Dean, when it isn't on him." Harry cautioned.

Hermione's shoulders slumped. She knew what Harry was saying was accurate, she just wished she knew whether she was going to be a single parent, or not. "You're right Harry. I just don't like the not knowing."

"I know, but Hermione, it does no good to assume things for another person." Harry told her digging into his breakfast.

"I'm thinking about sending him a letter to tell him there's an appointment for me soon to find out what the baby is." Hermione said softly, her hands gliding over the place where her child grew.

"I think that's a good idea. It gives him the option to be there or not. It'll show him you're trying." Harry replied.

With a soft smile for her friend, she resolved to do just that.

Bristol, Rhode Island

Dean and Sam were squatting in an abandoned house. It was simultaneously better and worse than staying in some seedy, cheap motel room. Luckily for Sam though, he was able to hack a WiFi network in order to continue researching for the case. All the girls taken were brunettes with seemingly nothing in common. The more disturbing part of this case for Dean, was that Sam and Samuel had been here on a case, while Sam was running around, sans soul. Who knows how that could have ended up tying into the case. As it was, Dean didn't want to stick around to find out.

"Hey, come on, hop to would you?" Dean asked, bustling around the place shoving his clothes back into his duffle. He was ready to hightail it back to Bobby's.

"We can't go, Dean." Sam replied, looking over the information he had pulled up.

"Uh, yeah we can." Dean told Sam in his "well duh" tone of voice.

"No, listen, 5 guys went missing a year ago, they never found the bodies. I mean, that's got to be the job me and Samuel worked, right?" Sam asked.

"Great, what difference does it make?" Dean replied, wondering where Sam was going with all of this.

"A year ago, five guys go missing, and now, suddenly all these women go missing. Something's here, so either we just didn't stop it, or we only thought we did." Sam laid out his case for staying on the hunt.

"Okay, but why the gender bend huh? First, it's dudes, now it's chicks? That's a totally different M. O." Dean explained, walking over to where Sam was sitting. Something about this case wasn't sitting right with him.

"I don't know. Who knows? The point is that something's still here." Sam replied, gesturing to the information on the computer screen.

"Great, we'll call Bobby, and he can deal with it." Dean suggested.

"Why? We can deal with it." Sam argued.

"Are you serious?" Dean questioned. Sam let out a sound of absolute irritation. If one were to label it with words, it probably would have sounded like "are you kidding me."

"Sam, there is a reason that hunters don't hit the same town over again. Because we have a habit of leaving messes behind." Dean told the reluctant to leave younger brother, who was kind of starting to irritate him.

"Right, I agree…" Sam started, before he was interrupted by Dean continuing his rant.

"One of dad's rules, 'you never use the same crapper twice.'"

Sam looked up at his older brother from where he was sitting. His brother was close to losing it, so he decided to diffuse Dean a little bit. "Everyone uses the same crapper twice."

"Not us!" Dean argued. He stopped when Sam gave him an "are you serious?" look. "You know what I mean." He finished, after a breath.

"Okay look, this creature is still walking around because of me, right? I mean, I let it go. Dad also said: 'you finish what you start.'" Sam rebutted. Dean laughed a short, humorless laugh before Sam continued. "Okay, I get it."

"Do you?" Dean asked seriously.

"Yes, you're afraid I'll stroll down memory lane, and I'll kick this wall in my head so hard, Hell comes flooding through. Right?" Sam asked. "And then, all of the sudden, I'm just some drooling mess on the floor."

"That's not a joke." Dean said seriously. It was one of the fears that kept him awake at night. No one was kidding when they'd warned him about what would happen to Sam, if that wall were to come down. Even with everything else on his plate right now, he still couldn't lose his little brother.

"Okay, I know, but listen. What's happening here right now, it's because I messed up somehow, in some big way. So, every person that gets taken, every person who dies, that's on me. I have to stop it, and you'd do the same thing." Sam said, trying to explain why he felt so strongly that they should stay.

Dean scoffed, wanting Sam to be wrong, but damn it if he wasn't spot on. "All right, I'll follow up with the brunettes. You see what you get from the cops." He told him. It was better he stay on the case with Sam.

Sam gave him a grateful look before they both moved to get their fed suits. Dean was just pulling off his jacket and button down shirt, when there was a tapping noise on one of the wooden boards nailed across a window. Looking through a space between two of the boards, he spotted Hermione's owl sitting on the ledge, a letter in her beak. With a sigh, Dean reached through and took the letter. Instead of waiting for a reply, the owl took off, flying away.

"What was that about?" Sam asked.

"That was mail delivery. For me." Dean replied, studying his name written in her handwriting, across the front of the envelope.

"There's no mailman that comes here Dean, and the only person who knows we're here is Bobby. He would have just called us, so how is it you got mail delivered?" Sam questioned.

"It's from Hermione, and it comes by owl. She tells her owl to find me when she wants a letter delivered, and somehow it always does." Dean explained as simply as he could.

"Like carrier pigeon?" Sam asked, confused.

"Something like that." Dean replied distractedly.

Deciding to deal with it now, rather than later, he turned the envelope over and broke the wax seal. Pulling out the letter, he unfolded it and read:

 _Dear Dean,_

 _I don't know what you're thinking about, or if you've come to any decisions yet. I don't want to pressure you, but I did want you to know that I have an appointment with a healer in a couple of weeks. I get to find out then what I'm having, whether it's a little boy or girl. You can come if you want, if you don't, that's fine too. It's on December 21, at 9 in the morning._

 _Love, Hermione_

Her words caused something to snap inside of Dean. Suddenly things seemed a little clearer than they had been. He suddenly needed to finish this case that way he could finally sit down and have a talk with Hermione.


	4. Some Nights

**Author's Notes: I wish, but I don't own any of the characters. They belong to J. K. Rowling and Eric Kripke respectively.  
**

 **Chapter Inspiration: Some Nights by Fun.**

* * *

 **Chapter 4**

Some backroad, USA

Sam and Dean had wrapped up their hunt, and were currently traversing the country back to Bobby's. Sam was still beating himself up pretty badly over the consequences of decisions he'd made when soulless, and Dean was terrified because Sam had had a seizure. He was worried about how much damage was done to the wall in his brain. He was also thinking about Hermione, and the conversation he knew he had to have with her. There was too much on his plate, and all of it needed dealing with. He figured Bobby might be able to hold down the fort with Sam temporarily, while he dealt with the most pressing issue at hand.

"So are you ever going to tell me what was in that letter you got?" Sam asked, needing something to focus on other than the mistakes he'd made.

"You're going to find out sooner or later, Sammy. Hermione's pregnant, and yes, it's mine." Dean replied.

"Awesome!" Sam said, sitting straight up in his seat. This was good news to him. He wanted his older brother to find happiness. "How far along is she? Is it a boy or girl? I can't believe I'm going to be an uncle!"

"Okay, calm down fanboy. She's six months, and she finds out what she's having in a couple of weeks. That's why she sent me the letter. She wanted me to know, and give me the option to be there or not." Dean replied, gripping the steering wheel tighter.

"You're going, right?" Sam asked, angling himself to look at Dean.

"I want to, but I have to talk to her first. I kind of had her go back to England so I could process, and her owl took off before I could even open her letter. At this point, I don't have a way to contact her." Dean explained.

"That explains a lot." Sam mumbled.

"What's that supposed to mean?" Dean asked.

"Hermione shows up, wanting to talk to you, then she leaves abruptly. You lock yourself in a bedroom, with a bottle of whiskey. Her friend shows up to talk to you, and then leaves. Anyone with half a brain would know something big was up." Sam replied.

"That doesn't help with the fact that I have no way to contact Hermione." Dean bit out.

"Maybe we need to find some way to find a mail owl?" Sam asked. It was a long shot, but it was worth trying.

Dean shot him a look. It wasn't a horrible suggestion, but he had no idea where to start looking for one, or if he did find one, whether it'd find Hermione. There were too many questions, and not enough answers. For now, he was going to focus on the drive back to South Dakota where he'd deal with the lack of communication options.

Hogwarts

It had been 4 days since she'd sent her letter to Dean, about the appointment with her healer. Unfortunately, there was no indication that he was going to respond to her letter. She was beginning to wonder if his decision really was going to be to stay out of his child's life. She would just have to pretend it didn't hurt.

Fortunately for everyone, Harry was a calm voice of reason. On this particular day, Hermione had decided to rant at Harry, that what Dean told him must have been wrong, or he must have decided without talking to her. When he'd asked her why, she told him about the letter she'd sent, and how she'd gotten no response. Harry sensed that she wasn't telling him the whole story again, and decided to write Dean himself. Sitting at his desk, he scrawled out a note:

 _Dean,_

 _I should warn you, Hermione's on a hormone rampage here. She's telling me that because you didn't respond to her letter, that you obviously have made up your mind. Is there a message, or something I can pass on to her? Are you ready to talk to her yet? I don't want to end up stuck in the middle of this (and when Hermione calms down, I'm telling her the same thing)!_

 _Harry_

Harry uncaged his owl, and stuck his letter in an envelope. He muttered Dean's name, and sent the owl into the sky. Sighing, he turned to his girlfriend, who'd been a great listener for Harry through this ordeal.

"Do you think they'll work it out this time?" Harry asked her.

"Hopefully." Ginny replied.

Sioux Falls, South Dakota

Dean rolled over in the bed he slept in. Pounding the roads for 2 days straight to get here, he had been exhausted on arrival. Being able to crash, and sleep was a good thing. He felt more alive than he had in a while. A distinct tapping noise sounded from the window closest to him. Turning his head, he spotted an unfamiliar owl sitting on the windowsill, with a letter in its beak. Hoping it was from Hermione, he opened the window to let it in. It flew to the dresser to sit, once it released the envelope into Dean's hands.

Dean broke the unfamiliar seal on the envelope, and sat back down on the bed. It wasn't from Hermione, but from Harry. He laughed a little at his description of Hermione though. He could see her ranting, hands on her hips, cheeks flushed and all, in his mind. Deciding this was probably his only chance to get word to her, in any way, Dean scrambled for the notebook and pen he'd started carrying in his duffle, since he'd returned to the States.

He quickly penned 2 letters, one for Harry, and one for Hermione. Labeling each one, he dropped them in an envelope addressed to Harry Potter. He stuck the envelope in the owl's beak and sent it back to Hogwarts.

Hogwarts

Harry was in the middle of a game of wizard's chess with Ron, when his owl returned, a different envelope in its beak. Rising from his seat, the young wizard made his way to the window to let the owl in. He gave her a treat after taking the envelope. Inside he found two pieces of paper, one with his name on it, the other with Hermione's. Unfolding the paper with his name on it Harry read Dean's reply:

 _Harry,_

 _She sent me a letter with the date, but the damned owl took off before I could even open the letter! I'm not trying to put you in the middle of anything. I am ready to talk to Hermione. I recently came to a decision on a hunt. I enclosed a letter for her, if you could just make sure it makes it into her hands, it'd be appreciated. Thanks for looking out for her._

 _Dean_

With a smile, Harry pocketed Hermione's letter and excused himself from the game. Making his way across the school, as fast as he could, he trucked to the library, where he knew he'd find Hermione. She was spending a lot of time here, helping rebuild, and research. He found her at a table, a stack of books next to her.

"What's up?" She asked, not looking at him as he approached.

"I have something for you." Harry said, pulling the letter from his pocket.

Looking at him, she spotted the paper and instantly tensed up. It was a lined piece of notebook paper, which could only mean it was from one of two people. "Who's it from?" She asked.

"Dean. He told me your owl left before he could open your letter. Hermione, did you not give the poor guy time to reply to your letter?" Harry asked, taking a seat across from her.

"I was too worried about what he would say, so I told the owl to drop the letter off and return." Hermione replied, blushing.

"I think pregnancy has killed a few of your brain cells." Harry joked.

"You think you're funny." She deadpanned.

"Read it." Harry said, sliding the letter across the table to her. He leaned back in his chair so that he could be sure she read whatever it was Dean wrote.

Taking the letter, she slowly opened it, dreading whatever it is she would read. "Are you really going to sit there and watch me read this?" She asked arching a brow at her friend.

"Yeah I am." Harry responded, gesturing with his hands for her to get on with it.

With a sigh Hermione read the words on the page.

 _Hermione,_

 _I really would like to be there for your appointment, but I think we need to talk first. I'm staying at Bobby's, so you can come over any time. I won't let Sam drag me off on a hunt before I talk to you._

 _Dean_

Hermione was both comforted, and terrified at the same time, at the prospect of having a serious conversation with him. This could either go the way she hoped it would, or it could go really badly. He didn't know it, but he had the power to break her, and she didn't like it.

"Well?" Harry asked, his arms crossed over his chest.

"Here, nosy." She said, sliding the paper across the table to him.

He scanned the short note and nodded in approval. "So you're going, right?" He asked.

"I owe it to him and our baby to hear what he has to say." Hermione mused.

"Yeah you do." Harry replied.

"I'll go talk to McGonagall about me going. I don't know how long it'll take though." Hermione said, preparing to search out the busy headmistress.

"Just tell her you need a few days. Even if you return before then, it'll give you some time to get this sorted out." Harry replied.

"Very well." Hermione told him, working herself into a standing position.

Harry smiled approvingly at her. "You're doing the right thing here."

"Yeah, remind me of that if this all ends up going sideways." She told him.

"Oh, I will." Harry replied with a wink.

Rolling her eyes, Hermione left Harry where he sat, and took off for the headmistress's office. Her nerves skyrocketed with each step she took. Soon she'd be confronting her fate, she just had to get permission to go off and do so. When she reached the corridor that led to the Griffin that guarded the stairs to the headmaster's office, she began to search her mind for the password. Recalling it fairly easily (thank you pregnancy brain for not failing her there), she stood in front of the sculpture and in a loud, clear voice said: "animagus tabby."

The stairs started their curling trek upwards, and Hermione stepped on carefully to ride up to the door. When she reached the top, she stepped forward to knock on the door. The door opened with a click to reveal Minerva McGonagall sitting at her desk, a cup of tea in hand.

"Hello professor." Hermione greeted respectfully.

"Hermione, you're no longer my student. You haven't been for years now. Go ahead and call me Minerva." The elder witch told her former student.

"Thank you Minerva. I came to ask you if you could spare me for a few days." Hermione said.

"Of course Hermione, you've been an extraordinary help in the rebuilding process. May I ask, does this have anything to do with your condition?" Minerva asked kindly.

"Yes. It's the baby's father, he wants to talk." Hermione said with a small smile.

"That's a good sign." Minerva commented.

"I hope so. I gave him the choice to be involved or not." Hermione replied.

"That was good of you." The elder witch praised. "I encourage you to take as long as you need. We'll always be here if things don't work out, but I hope for yours, and your child's sake, that it does."

"Thank you Minerva." Hermione replied, appreciative of the kindness Minerva was plying her with.

"You're very welcome my dear. Now, don't lollygag, or he'll think you don't want to talk." Minerva said with a grin.

"I'm on my way!" Hermione said, returning the grin with a mock salute.

She left the headmistresses office lighter than when she'd arrived. Minerva had given her the time, and even gave her permission to take as long as she needed. She wondered if things went well, whether she'd be returning to the school or not. As much as she loved Hogwarts, and was happy to see it doing so well since the war, she no longer felt like she belonged here. If she were being truly honest, she'd say as much as she loved her second home, she loved Dean more. Home seemed more to be where ever, as long as he was there.

With that in mind, she repacked her duffle, after changing out of her dusty library outfit. She chose to don a clean pair of jeans, and a pink and white striped maternity button down top. She also took the time to re-brush her hair and braid it. Pinching herself one last time to make sure she wasn't dreaming, she brought up a mental image of Bobby's driveway, and jerked her wand to activate the apparition spell.


	5. The Reason

**Author's Note: How many times do I have to acknowledge that I don't own the Harry Potter or Supernatural characters? I'll keep doing it anyway. Spoiler alert for episodes: Unforgiven and Mannequin 3: The Reckoning.  
**

 **Chapter Inspiration: The Reason by Hoobastank**

* * *

 **Chapter 5**

Sioux Falls, South Dakota

After Dean sent Harry's owl back with his letters, he dressed and headed down to Bobby's kitchen for some coffee. He wasn't sure if, or when, Hermione would come talk to him, so he decided maybe it would be a good time to talk to Sam about the seizure that he'd had. It was a moment of pure fear for Dean. It was everything he was dreading since Sam started remembering the case he'd worked while soulless.

He poured a cup of coffee, and a second one as well when he heard Sam's footsteps coming down the stairs. Taking a seat at the kitchen table, he extended the invitation for Sam to join him.

"Dean, when you said I seized, how long was I out?" Sam asked, taking a sip of his coffee.

Dean was surprised that Sam was the one to initiate this conversation. He'd been planning on being the one to do it, but seems he didn't have to. "I'm telling you, like 2 to 3 minutes. Why? What'd it feel like to you?"

"About a week, give or take." Sam reluctantly admitted. He didn't want to talk about this, but except for when they were talking about Dean's baby, there had been tension between him and his brother, and felt they should resolve it.

Dean nodded, accepting the admission for what it was. "You want to talk about it?"

"It?" Sam questioned.

"Yeah, whatever that was. It was like you were freaking electrocuted." Dean clarified, taking a large sip of his coffee.

"Look, I mean, it wasn't fun, but I'm fine." Sam said, hoping to appease his brother.

"Fine." Dean replied, not believing that it was as Sam tried to convince him of. "It was Hell, wasn't it? You got a big, fat face full of Hell. Ever cross your mind that you could have died?"

"Oh come on." Sam said, not sure as he believed what Dean was telling him.

"I'm serious. And none of this 'it's just a flesh wound' crap. Cause we did it your way, we let you go explore, and every bad thing that I said would happen, happened. So, guess what? Past stays past, we're not kicking that wall again." Dean laid out for Sam. He wouldn't let anything happen to him, not on his watch.

"So I'm supposed to just ignore it?" Sam pushed back. He wasn't entirely sure why Dean was making such a big deal out of a seizure.

"Yes!" Dean replied firmly.

"Dean, I might have done who knows what, and you want me to forget about it?" Sam asked disbelievingly. What was so wrong about wanting to make amends for whatever he did while he didn't have a soul?

"You shove it down, and you let it come out in spurts of violence and alcoholism." Dean advised. It was a better alternative than what Sam was on about.

"That sounds healthy." Sam remarked in a sarcastic tone of voice. Just because that was how Dean chose to deal with things, did not mean he had to as well.

"Works for me." Dean commented, almost as if he could hear Sam's thoughts. "It's not a joke. Your life is on the line here Sam. This is not a debate. I mean, first you were soulless and a dickbag, now you're not. So, we good?"

"Yeah, sure." Sam replied, trying to sound as if he agreed. He needed to placate his brother, before he went into full protective mode. "You up for a job?"

"You've already found another one?" Dean asked.

"Janitor murdered in a college lab last night. Doors were locked, and nobody else in or out of the building." Sam recited the information he'd found on the web.

"Where at?" Dean asked, voice guarded.

"Patterson, New Jersey. It's at least a full day's drive away." Sam commented off handedly.

"Sam, if you want to take Bobby and go check it out, that's fine. I kind of promised someone I'd be around here to talk for a while." Dean replied, it shocked him how easy it was to turn down the hunt.

"Okay, I'll go talk to him." Sam replied. He was glad his brother was prioritizing a conversation with the mother of his child. It gave him hope that maybe one of them could get out, and find some happiness. Now that his soul was intact, he could actually feel good about this turn of events.

Before Sam even stepped out of the kitchen, a sound like the crack of a whip sounded from outside. Pulling the demon killing knife from his pocket, he moved so his back was pressed against the walls of the hallway so he could investigate. However, Dean knew what the sound was, and was moving quickly towards the door. Bobby was also coming around the corner to investigate as well. All three men looked at each other, Sam confused as to why they weren't acting as if there was a possible threat in the yard. Before he could ask either Bobby, or Dean, why they didn't seem to be concerned, a soft knock on the front door could be heard.

Bobby nodded to Dean, before making his way to the kitchen. Dean walked to the door and pulled it open, revealing a nervous looking Hermione.

"Hi." Dean said, then mentally smacked himself for his less than smooth greeting.

"Hello." Hermione replied, wrapping her arms around herself in a protective manner.

Bobby returned at that moment with the usual silver cup filled with holy water.

"Hi Hermione. You know the drill." He said by way of greeting.

"Hey Bobby." Hermione replied, accepting the cup from his outstretched hand. She drank down the water quickly in front of the three expectant faces of the hunters in front of her. When nothing happened, she handed the cup back to Bobby, and Dean stepped aside so that she could enter the small home.

"What brings you here?" Bobby asked.

"Dean wrote saying he wanted to talk, so here I am." Hermione replied, stretching her arms out to her sides.

"Why don't you kids take it up to the bedroom." Bobby offered.

Dean nodded, gesturing Hermione to take the steps first. Stepping around him, she climbed the staircase carefully, her heart pounding. Her baby must have known something was up, because she could feel that he or she was more active than normal, for this time of day anyway. She rubbed a hand over her stomach, hoping to calm the little one down. She turned to the right, headed right for the bedroom she'd stayed in with Dean. Once they were inside, Dean closed the door for some privacy. He hoped Sam and Bobby would be too busy discussing the case his younger brother had found, to be trying to listen in. He watched her take a careful seat on the edge of the bed she'd slept in, the one Dean still preferred to sleep in now. He noted the difference in how she moved now, and her swollen stomach. A feeling he couldn't name tugged at his heart at the sight.

"Um, I'm not very good with words, so I don't know how to start this." Dean started, moving to take a seat on the bed opposite her.

"It's okay Dean, just tell me whatever's on your mind." Hermione replied gently, resisting the urge to reach out to him.

"When did you find out?" Dean asked rather abruptly.

Hermione took a breath, she knew he'd probably have questions, she just didn't expect him to jump right into it. "I found out a month after you and Bobby left. I couldn't figure out why I was feeling so weird, so I went to a healer." She told him.

"What's a healer?" Dean asked.

"It's the magical equivalent to a muggle doctor." Hermione explained gently.

"Okay, so why didn't you tell me when you found out?" Dean asked, his voice harsher than he intended.

"Like I said, I have no good excuse for not telling you. It all comes down to me being a coward." Hermione began. "I felt that telling you would make it out to be like I was asking you to choose between hunting, and the baby. I didn't feel like I could put that kind of pressure on you, it wouldn't have been fair." Hermione stopped herself there so she didn't reveal to him her deepest fears, that he'd not care and choose hunting over her.

"What changed over 5 months then?" Dean asked, trying to piece together the why's he had.

"First, my friends. Ron and Harry were especially mad at me for not coming and telling you immediately. They felt you had every reason to know, if nothing more, for the sake of knowing you have a kid in the world. Their arguments were valid, even if it didn't seem like I was listening to them. Fear had me holding back, like I said." Hermione explained, looking down at her hands in her lap. "Secondly, the baby changed my mind. I felt that I would be letting he or she down if I didn't at least try to talk to you. I owe it to our little one to at least try." The last part of her explanation was spent with her hands rubbing over her belly.

"Harry and Ron were right Hermione. I deserved to at least have the choice, or at least the ability to come up with some compromise." Dean explained.

"I know, I just thought you'd think it unfair of me to ask you to choose." Hermione explained, her voice cracking.

"Hermione, you're not asking me to choose. Don't you get it?" Dean asked heatedly. "Giving me the chance to be involved, does not equate to you asking me to choose between one or the other, but if I wanted to choose one or the other, it would be because I wanted to."

"I guess I never thought of it that way." Hermione replied, brushing stray tears off her cheeks.

"No you didn't, but that's in the past now. We can't go back and change it, all we can do is move forward." Dean said, wiping his palms on his jeans.

Lifting her face, she looked Dean in the eye, waiting for whatever he was going to say next. Dean saw her tear stained face, and for a moment felt a little bad for how terse he was with her. He could have handled his questions about why she kept his family from him for six months, better. Unfortunately, for both of them though, he needed to get the answers to his questions before he could move on.

"With that being said, I really want to be involved from here on out. I don't turn my back on family." Dean continued.

"Really?" Hermione's eyes brightened fractionally at his statement.

"Yes really." Dean replied, a small, crooked smile, pulling at the corner of his mouth.

A small smile bloomed on Hermione's face. This was turning out better than she thought. Instead of being alone, she was going to have him at her side, and she was proud to have him there. He was a good man, just like she knew all along, even if her pregnancy hormone addled brain didn't register the fact.

The moment of elation felt by Hermione and Dean was short lived though. A sharp kick to the ribs had Hermione's face scrunching up in pain, and her hand going to her ribcage. Dean seeing the change was immediately on his knees next to her, taking her free hand, and yelling for Cas.

"Cas, god damn it, get your feathery ass down here, I need you." Dean yelled. When then angel didn't immediately appear, he added: "Cas, it's Hermione."

The familiar whoosh of wings flapping, sounded in the room, and both looked up to see Castiel standing at the foot of the bed Hermione was sitting on. "What's going on?" The angel asked seriously, but with a note of urgency.

"Something's wrong Cas, she's in pain." Dean replied, panic squeezing his chest.

Cocking his head to the side, Castiel studied Hermione carefully with his remarkably blue eyes. "There doesn't seem to be anything wrong with her. I see no reason she should be in pain."

When the pain lessened, Hermione looked to Dean to explain. "Dean, he's right, there's nothing wrong with me. The baby kicked my rib cage, and hard."

"Baby?" Castiel questioned, cocking his head to the right.

"She's pregnant." Dean replied.

"So she's with child?" Castiel asked.

"That's typically what pregnant means." Dean quipped.

"When did you have time to fornicate with her?" Castiel asked bluntly.

"Six months ago, while we were in England." Dean replied, his hand still gripping Hermione's.

"Please be happy for us Cas." Hermione added, her eyes filling up with tears again.

"I am." Replied the angel in a gentler tone than he'd used with Dean. "I just wonder if…" His sentence trailed off.

"Wonder what, Cas?" Dean asked, his tone suddenly defensive.

"Nothing Dean. This is good news for you." Cas replied, his tone conciliatory.

"Yes, it is." Dean replied, looking Hermione in the eye with a small smile. His questions were answered, and he was done questioning this. He was going to be there for his family.

"If that is all, I must be going. There is unrest in heaven that I must attend to. Raphael is gaining power, and allies." Castiel replied, then disappeared with another whoosh.

"He still does that?" Hermione questioned Dean.

"Yeah, more so now lately, than before. Seems not all is well in heaven." Dean replied, simplifying the explanation.

"Oh." It was all Hermione could think to say.

"I want to be involved. That's why I wanted to talk to you. I want to be there for you, and for our baby." Dean told her gently, squeezing her hand.

"I'm glad Dean, so glad." Hermione told him, squeezing his hand in return. She felt a kick press into the hand she had over her stomach, which gave her an idea. Pulling Dean's hand, she placed it on the same spot, where another kick pressed into his. She watched as Dean's eyes widened, a look of wonder crossing his handsome face.

"Was that…?" Dean asked, the end of his question fading out in awe.

"Yeah. Little one is a fighter, just like it's father." Hermione replied, a small smile on her face.


	6. Stand By Me

**Author's Note: Still don't own these beautiful characters, I'm just borrowing them.  
**

 **Chapter Inspiration: Stand By Me by Jason Manns**

* * *

 **Chapter 6**

After Dean and Hermione talked, they sent Sam and Bobby off on a hunt. Apparently, something had killed a janitor at a college somewhere. Since Dean didn't want to take off and leave Hermione so soon after working everything out, Bobby offered to go. Watching Bobby congratulate the two, carefully, but awkwardly hugging Hermione, was a little slice of the apple pie life that Sam had wanted for Dean. While this wasn't entirely apple pie, he figured however they could get some semblance of it, things would work out. Giving Hermione a careful hug, Sam followed Bobby out to his car, since Dean insisted that the Impala stay with them, just in case, of course.

After they left, Dean and Hermione continued talking, but in a more relaxed manner than they had before. They had taken seats on Bobby's lumpy, old couch, sitting so that they could face each other. He asked her about her previous appointments with the healer, whether she had any intuition as to what gender the baby was, and how she was feeling physically. She asked whether he had hopes for a boy, like every other father to be. Being honest with her, he told her that he didn't care, as long as whatever the baby turned out to be, was healthy. Then the discussion turned to how they were going to work out having the baby together, since the last time they'd talked, she'd felt the need to stay in England, and he'd felt the need to be in the States.

"I don't feel the same as I did then." Hermione told him.

"Really?" Dean asked, trying to get a feel for the situation.

"Yeah, they're doing just fine. The rebuild is ahead of schedule, actually. I'm mostly sure that there will be a term starting next September. As much as I love the place, I don't feel like I have to stay anymore." Hermione explained. A flash of the djinn induced, alternate universe, flashed through her brain. The one of her and Dean at Hogwarts together, and happy. Mentally she reminded herself again, that this wasn't the same, and it wouldn't ever come to fruition.

"Wow, so what would you say if I suggested you stay here?" Dean asked, his heart pounding in his ears. This was the biggest step he'd ever taken with a woman, but with this one, it just kind of felt right.

"I would say fine. I would do whatever it takes to make sure you're involved. If you want us here, then we'll be here. If you wanted me to go back to England, and you stay here, I would. I gave you the choice to be as involved as you wanted, so ultimately it's your decision." Hermione said, completely removing her desires from consideration.

"I know it would be a lot safer for you here, than anywhere. I could protect you better from here. Once monsters hear about you and the baby, they'll try and use you both, just to get to me." Dean replied, hiding his true motivation from her.

"Makes sense." Hermione commented, resigned to moving in with Dean and Bobby.

"So you're going to stay then?" Dean asked for confirmation purposes.

"If that's what you want. Though, are you sure Bobby won't mind, since this is technically his house?" Hermione wondered.

"Please, if Bobby had his way, you would have come back with us after the war." Dean told her, rolling his eyes. "He won't admit it, but you've become a daughter to him. Old softie."

"I won't tell him you said that." Hermione said with a small laugh.

"Good. He'd kick my ass six ways to Sunday if he knew." Dean replied with a wink.

"Seriously though, you're sure he won't mind?" Hermione questioned again.

"I'm sure, and if he did, we'd just find somewhere else to go." Dean said, placing a gentle hand on her shoulder.

"You keep surprising me." Hermione mused out loud.

"How so?" Dean asked. He'd never heard anyone say that about him before. Usually they just took him at face value. Not that he'd allowed for much else before.

"I mean that in a good way, really." Hermione quickly defended, before he could think otherwise. "You show the world this tough, devil-may-care exterior, when deep down, you're not. You care about family, you're loyal, and you fight for people. That makes you a very rare individual."

"Uh, thanks?" Dean replied, not at all sure how to feel about that. She'd paid him a compliment, one that he didn't entirely feel he deserved. Not that he'd be telling her that.

"It's a compliment Dean, take it." Hermione said lightly, a smile lightening her face.

"Yeah, yeah, yeah." Dean grumbled. "So, do you need to pack, or some shit like that?"

"Um, I may have already done that. My, well your duffle, with my stuff in it, is stashed on the porch." Hermione replied.

"Why didn't you bring it in with you?" Dean questioned, his brows pulling together in a comically quizzical way.

"Well, I wasn't sure what you were going to say, so I was prepared either way." Hermione replied, gaze dropping to her lap once again.

Dean didn't say anything, opting to just lift himself from the couch. Hermione watched him carefully, as he strode out of the living room to the front door. She watched him open it, then disappear. Moments later, he returned, the duffle bag slung over his shoulder. He beckoned to her with a jerk of the head. Working her way to the edge of the couch cushion, she slowly stood, and made her way over to Dean, who started leading her up the familiar stairs. He walked right for the bedroom he considered in his head to be theirs.

He dropped the duffle on the floor, then without a word, pushed the two twin beds together. Hermione watched wide eyed at what he was doing. Her heart was pounding with the implications of his actions. She couldn't help but wonder at his motives. Crossing her arms across her swollen, larger than normal chest, she prepared herself for whatever he answered her question with.

"What are you doing?" She asked, a hint of bewilderment coloring her tone.

"What does it look like, sweetheart?" He retorted cockily.

"It looks like you're pushing the beds together. _Why_?" Hermione asked, stressing the why portion of her response.

"At the risk of sounding like a girl, because I missed you, that's why. I'm not sleeping somewhere else in this damn house, knowing you're up here." Dean replied defensively.

Hermione held her hands up in a position of surrender at his tone. She could tell she'd definitely hit a nerve, not that she knew she was going to with her line of questioning. Instead of responding, she walked over to where he stood, and wrapped her arms around his waist. After a solid second, she felt him relax and return her embrace. It was familiar, and old feelings rose up in both of them, feelings that had never truly abated, or went away.

He felt the need to ask her why she'd signed off her latest letter with "love, Hermione," in fact, it was on the tip of his tongue as he held her in his arms once again. Unfortunately, he backed out and stayed quiet. He'd never admit to why he didn't ask, he just wouldn't. He'd deal the way he normally dealt, and that would be that, or at least that was what he was telling himself. He smiled when he felt a series of kicks press against his midsection. More proof that maybe, he'd finally done something right. The moment was ruined when his cell phone started ringing from his back pocket.

Pulling the phone from his back pocket, he looked at the display. Seeing that it was a number that wasn't programmed into the phone he'd just gotten a month ago, he ignored the call. He encouraged Hermione to unpack, before leaving to let her do so in privacy. However, he didn't go without first pressing a gentle kiss to the top of her head. After he left, Hermione began unpacking, with bright pink cheeks, and a wide smile on her face.

The remainder of the day went pleasantly from there. Hermione was able to unpack all of her stuff, and send a letter off to Hogwarts, telling Minerva and her friends that she would now be living in the States with Dean. It was with joy that she wrote Harry to tell him that Dean wanted to be involved, and he seemed to want to do so with her. After, she made them a meal with the few supplies Bobby had on hand. It wasn't much, but it was better than take out, or her hunter's cooking. Strange, she'd fallen back into mentally referring to Dean as her hunter again.

Bobby and Sam ended up being away for almost a week, before returning in Bobby's now wrecked car. Dean and Hermione stood on the porch watching their approach. When they exited the car, Dean asked if Bobby had fallen asleep behind the wheel accidentally. Bobby didn't reply, just smacked the younger hunter in the back of his head, with a mumbled: "idjit."

The next few days, Hermione spent in the house doing random stuff for the hunters, while Dean worked on Bobby's car. On the third day of repairs, Bobby wandered out into the garage where the car was being put back together.

"How's it look?" Bobby asked gruffly, as Dean backed his upper body out from under the Chevelle's hood. The older hunter handed him a beer.

"Well, seeing as she got hijacked by poltergeist, could be worse." Dean commented.

Bobby let out a deep sigh, looking at the repair work Dean had already completed. "How are you holding up?" He asked.

"I'm fine Bobby." Dean replied, his tone holding a warning not to push too hard.

"Seems you've come to a decision then?" Bobby asked.

"Yeah. Family takes care of family." Dean replied simply, taking a long pull from the beer bottle.

"I still stand by what I said the day she told you. You're not your father." Bobby said, giving Dean a look. With one statement, the young hunter had proved it. Not that he hadn't in little ways before, just with one giant leap, he solidified what Bobby had always known about Dean.

"He did the best he could." Dean justified. He was still warring with the residual loyalty he felt towards John, and the increasing feeling of unfairness at his upbringing.

"Bull shit." Bobby replied, a stern look overtaking his features. "I may not have had kids of my own, but I can't imagine raising them as John did you and Sam. You have the opportunity to do something different. To do for your little one, what John couldn't, or rather, wouldn't do for you."

"How? It's not like I can quit being a hunter." Dean replied, anger and defiance flaring up in his chest.

"Let me ask you something; if Hermione hadn't been in that cemetery, were you going to keep your promise to Sam?" Bobby asked.

"I was intending to try." Dean replied honestly. He wondered where Bobby was going with this line of questioning.

"So, you were going to try getting out of hunting, to have a normal life with Lisa and Ben?" Bobby asked for clarification.

"Yeah, I promised Sam that I would. Not that I kept that promise." Dean grumbled.

"So, let's say you had. What would you have done if Ben had found your arsenal, and asked you to hunt?" Bobby asked. He wanted Dean to see what he saw.

"Oh hell no, there's no way I would have taught him to shoot." Dean replied emphatically.

"Exactly my point. You're not going to screw up your kid Dean." Bobby told him.

"I can't stop being a hunter though." Dean dropped his voice.

"Yeah you can, there's plenty enough hunters to deal with the monsters of the world. Wrap up the thing with Castiel and Raphael, and get out. You have the chance to do what no hunter that I know of, has done." Bobby replied.

"Easier said, than done." Dean commented.

"Just think on it. No one's asking you to make a decision now." Bobby replied.

"You know, Hermione said that she felt that telling me she was pregnant, would sound like she was asking me to choose between her and the baby, and hunting." Dean said, making a decision to tell Bobby a little about what was said between him and the woman he was secretly falling for.

"Okay…" Bobby trailed off, not knowing where Dean was going with his statement.

"I told her it was my decision to make. That she wasn't asking, she was just giving me the options to make a decision." Dean replied, suddenly feeling a bit self-conscious.

"I see you've at least decided that she should be here." Bobby commented, his voice free of any judgement.

"I can keep her safe better." Was all Dean replied.

"Well son, you've got to start somewhere." Bobby said, slapping Dean on the shoulder once.

Dean grunted his acknowledgement. Maybe he could get out of hunting, or become the equivalent to Bobby, doing research for other hunters. He had a lot to think about, and not a lot of time before he would have to make a decision one way or another. There was a lot to consider, but for now, the right thing for him to do was to watch over Hermione and the baby here, while he at least discharged his duty to help his friend, Castiel.


	7. Who's On First?

**Author's Note: These characters belong to their creators, not me. Spoiler alert for episode: The French Mistake.  
**

 **Chapter Inspiration: Who's On First by Abbott & Costello**

* * *

 **Chapter 7**

It was finally down to the day before Hermione's appointment with her healer. Since they'd agreed that she was staying at Bobby's, Dean had tried to talk her into finding a doctor in Sioux Falls. However, Hermione had insisted that she could do that after she found out what the baby was with the healer she'd been seeing from the beginning. Dean was worried about her apparating in her condition, which had prompted him to write a letter to Harry, asking him if it would be safe. The response had yet to come in, which was probably now delayed, thanks to the tempest that was rolling through the area.

While the rain, snow, and hail mix pounded down outside; the inside of Bobby's house had Hermione sound asleep in a bedroom on the second floor, Dean drinking while doing internet research in Bobby's study, and Sam sorting through lore books in the living room. Finishing the stack of books he'd been reading, Sam took them into the study, to return them to their place.

"Where's Bobby?" Sam asked. He'd been so engrossed he hadn't realized the older hunter had left.

"In town, supply run." Dean replied, jerking his chin towards the window to his left.

Sam's eyes widened as his brows simultaneously pulled down into a frown, in a look of sheer disbelief. "In this?" He asked.

"Yeah, the man's a hero. We are officially out of hunter's helper." Dean replied, picking up an empty liquor bottle.

"Where's Hermione?" Sam asked curiously. He just realized he hadn't seen her in a while either.

"Asleep. Went up almost an hour ago," Dean replied, looking toward the ceiling.

At that moment, the lights started to flicker, causing both brothers to look around frantically. Either the power was failing, or something supernatural was coming for them. Footsteps sounded, and unceremoniously, Balthazar came striding towards the study with a casual "Hello boys."

Dean stood from his chair, and both Winchesters watched the eccentric angel as he bustled his way through the living room, into the study, to stand behind Bobby's desk. "You've seen the Godfather, right?" He continued to address the speechless brothers.

"Balthazar?" Dean questioned, feeling dread as to why the angel would be there, and concern because Hermione, and his baby were sleeping peacefully upstairs, vulnerable.

"You know the end, Where Michael Corleone sends his men to kill his enemies in one, big, bloody swoop?" Balthazar continued, ignoring Dean completely as Sam looked on in bewilderment.

"Hey!" Dean exclaimed, tired of being ignored when he sensed a threat.

Balthazar continued to ignore Dean as he turned to a shelf where he pulled a box. Inspecting the label, he muttered "Dead Sea brine, good, good," before pouring some in a bowl he'd placed on the corner of Bobby's desk that no one had noticed before. "Moe Green gets it in the eye, then Cuneo gets it in the revolving door..."

"I said: hey." Dean interrupted again, his voice hard.

"You did, twice. Good for you." Balthazar patronized Dean, patting him on the arm in a very sarcastic manner, much to Dean's irritation.

"Blood of lamb, blood of lamb…" Balthazar continued as if nothing had just transpired, looking around. An idea popped into his head, and he transported himself to the refrigerator to poke around there. "Beer, cold pizza... Blood of lamb!" Both brothers continued to look at the angel, now both equally bewildered.

"Why are you talking about the Godfather?" Sam asked, wondering if there was a point to Balthazar's intrusion, and constant commentary.

"Because we're in it. Right now, tonight," Balthazar started, looking at the boy's whose faces, once bewildered, were now drawn in concern. "and in the role of Michael Corleone, the archangel, Raphael." They watched as the angel poured the lambs blood he'd found, into the bowl with the salt.

"You mind telling us what you mean?" Dean questioned, now downright scared, and not just for himself.

Instead of answering, Balthazar went back to his muttering, this time pulling out a drawer from Bobby's desk. Items came flying from it, as he dug around, searching frantically for something. The angel decided to dump out everything into the chair Dean originally had been sitting in, then tried pulling out the bottom of the drawer. It lifted easily, and drew a relieved comment from Balthazar. Pulling a baggie, he held it up in the air between two fingers for the boys to look at. "Bone of a lesser saint." He explained. "This vertebra will do very nicely. Your mister Singer does keep a beautiful pantry."

Dean watched him dump the bone from the bag and begin crushing it in his hand. "Wait, Raphael is after you?" He questioned. Nothing Balthazar had told him so far was adding up.

"Raphael is after us all. You see, he's consolidated his strength, and now, he's on the move." Balthazar explained, as he crushed up the bone into fine pieces over the bowl of blood and salt.

"And where's Cas?" Sam asked, concerned. He knew Cas would be public enemy number one on Raphael's hit list.

"Oh, Cassie? He is deep, deep underground. So, good old Raphi put out a hit list on every, last Samaritan who helped our dear Cas. Including both of you, and so much more importantly, me." Balthazar replied. "See, he wants to draw Cas out in the open."

"You expect us to just believe you?" Sam questioned. He knew Balthazar, and the eccentric angel was also a tad shifty.

"Oh don't, he'll go right through you either way." Balthazar commented, while using the contents of the bowl to paint a sigil on the window Dean had been sitting across from.

"What's that supposed to mean?" Dean asked.

Before Balthazar could come up with another witty retort to answer Dean, the lights once again started flickering on and off. Everyone looked around at the ominous sign. "And that's all the time we have today gentlemen." Balthazar said, starting to check his pockets for something. Stepping closer to Dean, he pulled his coat to the side to check an interior pocket revealing a t-shirt that had a rather large bloodstain on it.

"Woah, what happened there?" Dean asked, frowning.

Looking at the stain then back at Dean, the angel replied, "Oh, garish I know. You see, uncle Raphi sent one of his nastiest to handle me. I'm flattered actually, and down on luck, but that's all right." He then extended a key towards Sam. "Well, here's for you."

Sam looked at the key, confusion once again written all over his face. It's not every day an angel is handing you a mysterious key, while informing you that there was a death sentence on your head. Not to mention the mixing ingredients in a bowl, to paint mysterious sigils on windows. "What am I supposed to do with this?" The younger Winchester questioned.

"Run with it." Balthazar responded, his tone conveying the seriousness of the instructions. Before he could tell them anything else though, Balthazar was being thrown through the air. He landed with a thud and a yell. The brothers moved to check on the angel, when the whoosh of wings sounded. Looking to their left, they saw a man moving through the living room straight for them.

"Virgil." Balthazar greeted, lifting himself from the floor to his feet.

The man, now identified as Virgil, didn't even acknowledge Balthazar. Just continued to walk determinedly in their direction. "I SAID, RUN!" Balthazar yelled at Sam and Dean, before throwing out his hand, his grace propelling the brothers backward through the window. When they landed however, things would not be the same.

Dean felt the flying, the window breaking at his back, and the sensation of falling. What he didn't expect, was a landing that felt softer than what it should have been. He popped up ready to keep fighting to see, well, not Bobby's salvage yard. Instead of looking at the driveway where he knew it should be, he saw people, lights, and expensive looking equipment. Before his brain could process everything he was seeing, someone with a higher pitched, grating voice yelled "CUT!" It was followed by the sound of a bell, identical to the kind high schools used to indicate the changing of classes. From the corner of his eye, Dean could see Sam in a similar position, his body language indicating he'd been prepared to pop up in the middle of a fight.

Eyes wide, they didn't expect the strange people standing around them to start clapping as if they'd seen a performance.

 _What the hell did you do Balthazar?_ Dean wondered.

If Dean didn't think things could get worse for him, some guy came over and smacked his ass, complementing his fall. Dean was too stunned to even register that he had called him by some other name. He blinked a few times in bewilderment, feeling very uneasy about this new situation he found himself in. All he wanted to do in that moment, was find Hermione and crawl into bed with her, so he could sleep this away. He tried closing his eyes to try and get rid of the vivid nightmare, but someone yelling "JARED, JENSEN." Had his eyes popping open once again. He and Sam looked at each other, before facing the direction the voice came from.

"Outstanding! That was just great!" A short, overweight, mostly bald guy told Sam and Dean from behind some expensive looking technological equipment.

Frowning, Dean looked at the guy, as Sam who'd caught movement out of the corner of his eye watched a young man with something in his hand run up behind them. Dean turned his head when he heard a young man yelling behind him.

"Supernatural, scene 1, echo, take one, tail slate, marker." Then brought the two parts of the thing in his hands together, a cracking sound echoing in the large room everyone appeared to be in.

To say the brothers were confused, and overwhelmed, would be an understatement of mythic proportions. There was a burst of activity from various people all around them, as they got up from the mat they'd landed on. Looking through the window, they saw an area set up to look just like Bobby's study.

"So, no angels." Sam observed in a hushed tone.

"No angels I think." Dean confirmed, looking everywhere, at everything.

"Should we be killing anybody?" Sam asked, looking around him, at his surroundings as well.

"I don't think so." The older Winchester guessed.

"Running?" Sam questioned, trying to figure out what he should be doing.

"Where?" Dean asked.

The boys took a closer look at the stuff around them. Sam decided to pick up a piece of what looked like glass, what he wasn't expecting, was for it to flop around like a stretched out gummy bear. He wiggled it in Dean's face, the later giving a disgusted look at the wiggly fake-glass. For a while no one was paying attention to them, so they just explored, like overgrown children. Finally, someone yelled about moving on, and the lights above Sam and Dean came on. Another man called something about a "wrap," which made Dean's stomach growl.

A woman rushed up to Sam grabbing his arm, and dragged him away from Dean. "Jared, a few minutes', okay?" She asked at the same time Sam was asking Dean, "Who the hell are…"

Dean turned to follow his brother and the pushy, but perky blonde. "Where're we going?" Dean loudly whispered.

Before Sam could answer though, another girl, this time with brown hair, intercepted Dean, and herded him in a different direction. "Jensen, there you are. Let's just get you in the chair." She guided him enthusiastically towards a chair, that was sitting in front of a counter, that had all sorts of stuff on it. A lighted mirror rose from it at a ninety-degree angle, positioned so that the chair, and Dean, were reflected from the center of the reflective surface.

"The chair?" Dean questioned, not understanding what the importance of the chair was, although the lighted mirror was making him nervous. Not to mention the pictures of him and Sam hanging above the lights.

"Okay, we're just going to get this makeup off your face." The woman said, grabbing some tissues from a box, then lifting them as to wipe his cheek.

He laughed at the absurdity of that statement, grasping for her wrist to stop the wiping. "Wait, I'm not wearing any make..." Dean's protest was cut short when he saw the section of tissue that had touched his skin, had come away with color on it. Horror sunk into his bones when he realized he not only had a different name, and had crashed through fake glass, now he was wearing makeup like some girl. He looked in the mirror and raised a hand to his other cheek. "Oh crap, I'm a painted whore." He said aloud.

At this point the brunette was looking at him like he'd lost his mind. She wasn't sure what to make of the man in the chair. He slumped down in the chair and prayed she got the makeup he was wearing off him, and quickly. If this is what he thought it was, this could be really, really bad. He almost wished he were Sam, who was off somewhere with a pushy, perky, blonde. Guilt poured through Dean as a picture of Hermione suddenly came to his brain. It consumed him so quickly he didn't register the words "Okay, you're done." From the brunette, he just got up and took off, power walking in the direction Sam had been herded in. Luckily, his brother had finished whatever it was he'd been forced into, and was on his way back to find Dean.

"Dude, they put freaking makeup on us. Those bastards." Dean complained once he'd reached the younger Winchester.

"Look, I think I know what this is." Sam replied, semi-calmer than his older brother.

"Okay, what?" Dean questioned, momentarily side tracked from the Hermione situation to hear where in the world they were.

"It's a TV show." Sam said.

"You think?" Dean replied sarcastically.

"I mean here, where ever 'here' is. This-this twilight zone Balthazar zapped us into, for whatever reason, our life is a TV show." Sam went on to explain.

"Why?" Dean asked.

Sam shrugged. "I don't know."

"No, seriously. Why? Why would anybody want to watch our lives?" Dean questioned. So far as he knew, there was nothing about their lives worth watching.

"Well, according to the interviewer, not very many people do." Sam started. At Dean's annoyed face he continued quickly: "Look, I'm not saying it makes sense. I'm just saying we landed in some dimension where you're Jensen Ackles, and I'm something called a Jared Padalecki."

"So, what, now you're Polish?" Dean questioned incredulously. "Is any of this making any sense to you? To top it all off, where's Hermione?" Before Sam could reply to any of his rapid-fire questions, Dean walked away, pushing open a door to the outside.


	8. The Twilight Zone

**Author's Note: I may own Supernatural season 11 on DVD, but I don't own these characters. Spoiler alert for episode: The French Mistake.  
**

 **Chapter Inspiration: The Twilight Zone Theme Song**

* * *

 **Chapter 8**

Dean was ready to get back to his universe with Sam, but he needed to find answers, and Hermione. She had been asleep upstairs at Bobby's, and if there was a threat to them, there was a threat to her and his baby. A threat he needed to protect them from. He stormed out of a nearby door, on a mission to find her, when his eyes fell on the first relieving sight. A smile bloomed on his face for the first time.

"At least my baby made it." He told Sam, who had followed him out.

He made for the car, chuckling slightly with his relief, until some guy walked over to it, and started splattering what looked like mud all over her wind shield. "He-hey!" Dean angrily exclaimed, ready to tear the guy a new one. Unfortunately for him, before he could, his eyes caught sight of several "Baby's," all in varying conditions: from polished and perfect, to wrecked, with no tires, or doors on the body. "I feel sick. I'm going to be sick."

Sam looked at Dean concerned. He'd gone pale, and actually looked like he was going to throw up. They needed to figure out a way out of here and fast. Before Sam could say anything to calm his brother down though, Dean started walking away. He figured he'd be searching for Hermione now. When he caught up to his older brother, Dean continued talking.

"I want to go home." He complained. "I feel like this place is bad touching me."

"Yeah, I know, me too." Sam empathized. "So what do you think? Cas?"

"It's our best shot, if he's still alive." Dean replied, both walking aimlessly. They stopped in front of a fake door, and the elder Winchester started to pray. "Dear Castiel, who art maybe running his ass away from heaven, we pray that you have your ears on. So, breaker, breaker..."

The end of the prayer trailed off as Dean cracked his eyes to look at Sam, who shrugged. For some reason, they both looked through the opening in the fake doorway to see Castiel standing there, staring as he usually does. "Cas? Cas! Hey!" Dean said, making a break for the angel. "Oh thank God, what is all this, huh? Wh-what did Balthazar do to us?"

Castiel's eyes narrowed on Dean. "To keep you out of Virgil's reach, he's cast you into an alternate reality. A universe that is similar to ours in most respects, yet dramatically different in others." He replied.

"Like, like, bizzaro earth, right? And instead of bizarro superman, we get this clown factory." Dean complained.

"Um, yeah, well, anyway, no time to explain. Do you have the key?" Castiel, though confused by Dean's words, directed his question about the key to Sam, who dug it from his jacket pocket.

"So, um, what does this thing do anyway?" Sam asked, handing the key to Cas.

"It opens a room." Castiel responded vaguely.

"What's in the room?" Dean asked.

"Every weapon Balthazar stole from heaven." Cas replied, the seriousness of the situation reflected on his face.

"He gave it to us?" Dean asked, incredulous once again.

"To keep it safe until I could reach you. With those weapons, I have the chance to rally my forces." Cas replied, a single nod to Dean.

"Oh, okay, good, yeah." Sam replied, the weight of it all sinking into his brain. "So now, uh, what's the deal with all this TV crap?"

"Pardon?" Castiel asked, confusion building in his blue eyes.

"Amen Padaleski. And where's Hermione, while you're at it" Dean added to Sam's question.

"Uh, lecki." Sam said. Dean shot him a confused look. "Padalecki, I'm pretty sure.

Dean was looking both confused, and nervous at Sam, before a whiny "Man, did they put out new pages?" came from Castiel's mouth. Dean turned to see Castiel flipping through random pieces of paper in his hands. He was sure that Cas hadn't had those in his hands when they were just talking.

"What?" Dean questioned, not understanding the question.

"Is this some kind of cosmic joke?" Sam asked.

"Yeah, because if it is, it's stupid, and we don't get it." Dean tacked on.

"Yeah." Sam agreed.

"You guys okay? You don't remember that Emma isn't working today?" Castiel's voice was no longer the deep, gruff, monotone any longer. It was higher in pitch now, and he was removing his tie. He unbuttoned the white dress shirt to reveal some kind of powder blue t-shirt beneath.

"Give me this." Dean replied, yanking the pages out of Castiel's hand.

"These are words in a script. This isn't Cas." Dean said to Sam.

"Dude, look at him." It was the only thing Sam could think of. He looked like Castiel, and before, he'd sounded just like him.

"You guys want to run lines?" The fake Castiel asked. "I'm sure Emma would, but she's not in until tomorrow."

"His name's Misha. Misha?" Dean was beginning to feel even more overwhelmed.

"Oh wow." Sam burst out, yanking the key from, well, Misha's, not Castiel's hand.

Both men stalked away after taking the key back. "Misha? Jensen? What's up with the names around here?" Dean asked Sam as they walked. They may not have known where they were walking to, but they felt the need to get as far away from fake Castiel as possible.

"Oh, you guys! You really punked me! I'm totally going to tweet this one!" Misha called after them, much to their annoyance.

"I just want to dig my fingers in my brain and scratch until we're back in Kansas." Dean commented to Sam, after they'd gotten out of hearing range of fake Castiel.

As they walked, Sam noticed a row of trailers to their right. He turned to study them when he noticed something on the door of one of them. "Hey," he said to Dean to get his attention. Pointing to the sign he read aloud "J. Ackles."

"That's fake me." Dean said, pointing to his own chest.

"Yeah." Sam agreed.

"This must be fake mine!" Dean mused with a smile. Maybe there was somewhat of an upside to this situation.

Deciding to check it out, the boys opened the door and stepped inside. The first thing Dean spotted, was a remote-controlled helicopter. "Dude, I have a helicopter."

"Who puts a 300-gallon aquarium in their trailer?" Sam asked, having spotted one in the opposite direction of the helicopter Dean's eyes had gravitated to.

Turning around, Dean spotted the object of Sam's inquiry. "Apparently, Jensen Ackles." He replied blinking.

Spotting a laptop on a table, Sam decided to do what he did best; research. "All right, here we go." Sam celebrated. "Let's see who this guy is."

"Well, he's not a hunter, but he plays one on TV." Dean observed sarcastically.

Sam already had a search engine up, and was typing in the name 'Jensen Ackles'. He was curious to figure out who was playing his brother for a public audience.

"Oh, come on. Look at these male modeling sons of bitches. Nice blue steel Sam." Dean complained, holding up a magazine he'd found so Sam could see their faces on the cover.

Sam shrugged. "Hey, apparently, it's our job."

Dean turned to look at a television mounted on a wall. He could see running footage of who he assumed were Jared Padalecki, and Jensen Ackles.

"All right, here goes. Um, it says you're from Texas." Sam read.

"Really?" Dean asked.

"Yeah." Sam confirmed, seeing Dean's 'it could be worse' face. "And... Uh, oh, it says you were on a soap opera."

Dean's face dropped into one of sheer terror at the words soap, and opera, having anything to do with him. "What?" He questioned just as Sam hit play on a video clip. Dean rushed over to the laptop to watch over Sam's shoulder. Both boys watched the clip play out with confused, and slightly horrified looks on their faces. If ever there was an argument that soap operas were crappy television, this clip proved it. Before the clip was finished, Dean reached out and slapped the lid down to stop the playback. Looking anywhere but at Sam, he said: "Don't like this universe, Sammy. We need to get out of this universe."

"Yeah, no argument here, but I don't think our prayers are reaching Cas. Or the real Cas." Sam said.

"No, I agree. I think we are definitely out of soul phone range, but..." Dean paused, as he picked up a legal pad that had been sitting on a table, along with a pen.

"What?" Sam asked, curious as to where Dean was going with his observation.

"If we can reverse Balthazar's spell. I watched every move. If we just, uh, get the ingredients, right? Get back to that same window, and..." Dean observed before turning the pad around to reveal his replica drawing of the sigil Balthazar drew on the window at Bobby's. "There's no place like home. I can go back to protecting my family."

Sam nodded, agreeing that Dean's plan sounded like the way to go. At least they had a set of stuff that was supposed to be the same as everything the real Bobby had. Making their way from the trailer, they avoided everyone, not even speaking when spoken to. They were on a mission to get back home, using the stuff in the Bobby's house set. What they didn't know, was that the joke would be on them.

"Bone of a lesser saint!" Sam exclaimed pulling it from a desk drawer. Except it felt different. "Got it, uh…" Bringing up his other hand, his fingers began to inspect the piece in his hand. "It's rubber." He informed Dean after a moment of playing with it. Sam bounced it off the top of the desk for emphasis.

Dean picked up a knife, it looked exactly like the demon killing knife. "Dude, check this out." The elder Winchester said to the taller one, while bending the 'blade' back and forth. Grabbing another fake knife, oblivious to the audience they suddenly had, Dean stabbed Sam with no warning, to demonstrate how the fake blade retracted into the handle "Hey, look, it's fake. It's all fake."

Sam startled when Dean stabbed him with the fake knife, but quickly calmed once he realized it wasn't real. He watched Dean use the fake knife to pretend stab himself in the chest and arms, a growing sense of discontent gnawing at his stomach. He figured his older brother was using this as a distraction. He knew that being away from Hermione and the baby had to be driving him insane, because it meant they were vulnerable to Raphael, Virgil, and every other angel after them.

"What are we supposed to do with this crap?" Dean asked grumpily to Sam, tossing a fake machete in the air and letting it fall wherever. Sam shrugged before walking away.

They walked outside once again, towards an Impala that looked like it'd run. "Of course everything is fake, we're on a film set." Sam observed grumpily to Dean. "We need to get back to the real world."

"Now you're talking." Dean agreed, panic at not having seen Hermione anywhere, beginning to eat at him.

Pulling the Impala doors open, the brothers settled in their usual seats: Dean behind the wheel, Sam sitting shotgun. The engine fired with a squeal that made Dean cringe, but didn't deter him from driving. He drove her down random road ways, trying to find the way out of the crazy they'd landed in the middle of.

"All right, we go round up the genuine articles, bring them back here, and work the spell. What the hell is going on...?" Dean said, noticing that the Impala was definitely not driving like his baby. "What is wrong with this thing?"

At that moment, a kid who looked like he was on the verge of a nervous breakdown, started knocking on the driver's side window yelling through the glass: "Mr. Ackles! Mr. Ackles! Please, sir! Please, stop!" He was begging Dean, while running alongside the moving vehicle.

"Uh, Dean, it's not the Impala." Sam observed.

"You think? It's a freaking prop, just like everything else." Dean got defensive to disguise the dejection he'd felt that even his car was included in the whacky. He stopped the car, slammed the transmission into park, and got out of the car, much to the nervous kid's relief.

"Thank you, thank you so much." The kid said.

"How the hell are we supposed to get out of here?" Dean questioned, he was gruffer with the kid than he normally would be, but he'd had a long day of crazy, a vulnerable woman he cared about, who was pregnant with his kid, that he was worried sick about, and a brother who he was pretending to be calm for.

"Uh, the car service?" The kid's response came out as more of a question than a statement. The sudden hostile nature of the actor was scaring him more than that of the props manager who'd seen the boys driving the car away.

"Where is it?" Sam asked in a slightly less hostile tone.

The kid nervously pointed back down the roadway Dean had been driving on. "See that garage you passed about half way down? That's where it is."

"Thanks." Sam replied, moving to lead Dean away from the nervous kid.

"We've been sent to crazy town." Dean muttered following after Sam.


	9. Supernatural Parody

**Author's Notes: I own the computer I wrote this story on, however, I still don't own the characters. Copyright belongs exclusively to J. K. Rowling and Eric Kripke. Continued spoiler alert for episode: The French Mistake.  
**

 **Chapter Inspiration: Supernatural Parody by The Hillywood Show**

* * *

 **Chapter 9**

It was after dark when they were finally able to get a driver to get them off the film set. Dean was still feeling panicky, presenting in overall confusion and grumpiness, while Sam seemed to be more level headed. He seemed quite content to just go along with everything, and pretend that he truly was a Jared Padalecki. Now, they were on the road to who knows where, and Dean was hoping that wherever that was, would have some answers as to where his girl was in all of this. His musings were cut short by the driver addressing he, and his brother.

"Where about do you want me to drop you off?" He questioned.

Dean and Sam looked at each other, neither knowing how the hell to answer the guy.

"Jensen?" The driver asked, looking at Dean through the rearview mirror.

"Me. Yes, um, I'll just, uh, tag along with Jared here." Dean tripped over every word.

"Since when are you guys talking?" The driver seemed surprised, and Dean couldn't figure out what that could mean. He and his brother never seemed to stop talking half the time.

Luckily for Dean, Sam spoke up. "Yeah, uh, you know what Clint…" His sentence trailed off when he was corrected by the driver.

"Uh, Cliff." He reminded the younger Winchester.

"Yeah, of course, Cliff, obviously." Sam corrected himself, embarrassed for having forgotten the guy's name. "Um, so, uh, I think we're going to go back to my place and do some..."

"Work on our acting." Dean supplied, when Sam couldn't seem to figure out how to end his sentence.

"Yep." Sam agreed.

"For our characters, for the show." Dean continued.

"All right." The driver said, shooting them a genuinely happy smile.

"Where the hell are we anyway?" Dean asked, looking around at the unfamiliar scenery. Just then, he saw through the front wind shield, a sign saying 'Welcome to Vancouver," with the Canadian maple leaf on it. Cliff didn't need to answer verbally now. "Dude, we're not even in America." The elder Winchester whispered to the younger. Sam just gave him a look that said 'oh boy.' Dean just wanted to be home even more now.

About ten more minutes of driving later, Cliff pulled the car into a circular driveway, that led up to a mansion, for lack of a better term for the structure. "Here you are Jared, home sweet home." The driver quipped. "I'll be back here to pick you up around 6 in the morning, call time for you both is 7."

"Uh, okay sure thing." Sam replied.

They exited the car, and watched as it pulled away. Once Cliff had turned the corner, they made their way up the steps, through the glass and wood double doors, into a lavish foyer.

"Nice modest digs, Jay-Z." Dean quipped, looking around at the lavishness of everything he could see.

"Wow." Sam was in awe as they walked from the foyer, into what looked like a giant living space. "I must be the star of this thing." He mused out loud.

Dean scoffed. "Yeah, right." His response heavy with sarcasm. Looking to his left, his eyes landed on an interesting looking contraption in a corner. "Check it out." He said bringing Sam's attention to it.

"Wh-what am I? Dracula?" Sam asked, confused. His face conveying the fear he was experiencing at whatever the machinery might be.

Dean opened it to reveal two concave surfaces with UV bulbs inside. "George Hamilton, Dracula." He replied to Sam, with a slightly condescending smile. "Oh, now we're talking." His attention yanked from the discovery of the tanning bed, by the wooden liquor cabinet by a window, across from where he was standing.

Sam followed Dean further into the living space at a slow, measured pace. His eyes wide, as everything around him sunk further into his brain. He wasn't sure he could handle another shock at whatever his life was like as Jared Padalecki, instead of Sam Winchester. Hell, all he knew about it so far was that he was an actor, he had a giant house with a tanning bed inside, and apparently, he and his brother, who in this world, wasn't his brother, don't speak. He was so lost in thought, he missed a noise that drew Dean's attention away from the liquor cabinet.

"Dude, you have a camel in your back yard!" Dean informed Sam, having pulled back the curtain at the window to investigate the noise he'd heard while pouring a drink.

Sam looked confused, and then startled when a familiar female voice spoke up: "It's an alpaca, dumb ass."

Dean's eyes went wide with fear. "Ruby?"

 _This can't be good._

The woman sighed, walking away from a second-floor railing to stairs, where she came out in the foyer he and Sam had been in when they first arrived. "Ruby, right. Because that one never gets old." She replied to Dean, her tone completely annoyed. "How was work today hon?" She directed the soft question to Sam, before walking up to him to give him a kiss hello. Both boys were still terrified of seeing Ruby, but not Ruby.

Sensing something was off about the guys, Ruby, but not Ruby, sat on the arm of a nearby couch.

"Wait, you and Ruby?" Dean asked Sam, trying to piece together whatever was going on in this world.

"Do you honestly think that's funny, Jensen?" She asked Dean snippily.

Dean's brows came down slightly as he thought. "Right, because you're not Ruby." He mused. "You, I mean, how could you be? You, of course, you're the lovely actress who plays Ruby." Dean gave a slightly nervous laugh, and kept speculating. "And you, are uh, in Jared's house, because you two are, uh..." Suddenly his eyes landed on a silver picture frame on the fireplace mantle. "Married!" He exclaimed triumphantly. "You married fake Ruby?"

Sam turned to look at the picture Dean had gestured to with his hand. There was the proof. He married fake Ruby in this world. He turned to Dean, his face confused and terrified all over again. So now, in this world, his brother isn't his brother, they're actors, they don't talk, and now he's married to fake Ruby, not to mention the giant house he and fake Ruby live in.

"What are you doing?" Fake Ruby asked the guys, really confused as to why they were acting weird.

"Work." Sam said quickly.

"Yeah, just uh, thought I'd pop in and say hey. Hey, and-and maybe run some lines..." Dean supplied.

"You've never even been to our house." Fake Ruby replied, more suspicious now than confused.

Once the shock of fake Ruby's announcement that Dean had never been in Sam's house, Dean replied: "Well, now that I know there's an alpaca out back, I'm definitely coming back."

Rolling her eyes, fake Ruby informed Dean: "Well, alpaca's are the greenest animal."

"Right." Dean nodded, hoping he looked like he already knew that. "That is so important."

"Well, there's that thing I have to get to." Ruby said standing. Both men just looked at her not knowing how to act anymore.

"Oh yeah, of course, yeah, the thing." Sam stumbled, pretending he knew what was going on.

"The International Otter Adoption charity dinner." Fake Ruby reminded Sam gently.

"Oh." Sam replied. He had no better response.

"Okay, well..." Fake Ruby's sentence trailed off as she kissed Sam goodbye. Dean averted his eyes. "Well, I'm glad you two are talking anyway." She said once she broke out of the kiss before walking away.

Both brothers admired fake Ruby as she walked away in her tight, little black dress, and black heels. Dean may have been secretly head over heels for Hermione for months, but he could still appreciate a good-looking woman.

"Well, looks like you did all right." Dean complimented his brother.

"Yeah." Sam agreed with a laugh. "I should figure out her name."

Dean gave Sam an amused look. It wasn't every day you find out your younger brother, in an alternate reality, has a wife who wasn't a demon, and didn't know her name. Turning, both brothers decided to explore a bit while fake Ruby wasn't around. They were like kids in a candy store, playing with random things, oohing and ahhing over the lavishness of it all. Dean had ribbed Sam whenever they would come across blown up pictures of the younger Winchester. The pictures were obviously staged, and total glamour shots, which made it all the more funny to Dean.

The exploration came to an end at the discovery of a room that they assumed was an office. On one wall, there was a giant, black and white photo of Sam, dressed as a cowboy, sitting on the back of a horse, that was hanging behind a desk with a giant computer monitor sitting on its surface. Kiddie corner to that, was a poker table set up with the requisite cards and chips. There was also a funky looking leather couch, and matching chairs.

Taking the rare opportunity, they played a couple of hands of poker. Dean and Sam both won a game each, before going to work on finding the ingredients to work the go home spell. Sam took up researching on the mega desktop computer, while Dean used a laptop they'd found somewhere in their exploration of the mansion.

"Wrist bone of saint, and holy reliquary, museum quality, from a diocese somewhere in Mexico." Sam commented, after nearly an hour of intense research. "Looks legit."

"All right, auction house is in Mexico City, we can be there day after tomorrow. We case it, yank it, be back here by the end of the week." Dean replied. He wasn't overly thrilled about the amount of time it would take, but if that's how he got home, either back to his girl, or with his girl, this is how he would do it.

"Or, we could just buy it." Sam said hesitantly.

"What?" Dean questioned. "Dude, that thing is over a hundred thou- "Dean's protest stopped short when Sam held up a high-end credit card. "Hello, Jared Padalecki."

The brothers laughed before digging out credit cards to buy what they needed off the internet. At some point, Sam ended up on the phone with someone about the wrist bone of a saint, while Dean was able to do everything he needed to do, without needing to call anyone. Over and over, he typed in various card numbers, maxing out card, after card to purchase everything. It kept his mind off of worrying about Hermione for a moment, though that was all he'd done while needing to deal with this crazy alternate universe. Sam wrapped up his phone call just as Dean was finishing the last of his internet transactions.

"Wow, they said it should be at the airport first thing in the morning." Sam informed Dean happily. They shared a laugh as Dean ran the last credit card.

"Money, man, there is nothing like it." Dean muttered.

Sam couldn't help but agree. Suddenly, he realized they'd been discovering all of these things about his alternate universe life, that as a brother, he'd failed to gauge how Dean was faring without Hermione.

"How are you doing with all of this Dean?" Sam asked suddenly.

"What do you mean?" Dean asked, somewhat annoyed at Sam's prying.

"I mean, how are you holding up? Don't think I haven't noticed that you've asked almost everyone we've come across about Hermione." Sam observed cautiously.

"Either she's here, or she's vulnerable. In either case, I need to figure it out." Dean replied defensively. There was no way he was going to reveal much more.

"So, you're worried about her." Sam prodded a little more.

"She's pregnant, Sam." Dean's tone was more of a warning to back off.

"I think it's more than that." Sam was now studying his older brother. Dean was being his usual defensive self, not willing to voice his worries or feelings, but Sam could usually tell when there was something going on with him.

"Sam, drop it." Dean growled. He was tired of Sam's desire to prod information out of him. Spotting the funky looking couch out of the corner of his eye, he executed a strategy to get him out of talking. "All right, couch, TV star, beauty rest."

With that, he flipped himself over the back of the couch, landing there. He immediately closed his eyes, and with the vision of a smiling, pregnant Hermione, he fell asleep.


	10. All Star

**Author's Note: Continued spoiler alert for The French Mistake. I still don't own these beautiful characters though.  
**

 **Chapter inspiration: All Star by Smash Mouth**

* * *

 **Chapter 10**

The next morning dawned sunny. Dean was not thrilled when Sam had cheerily woken him up at 5, but bigger picture he supposed. Sam's cheery mood spanned the entire time they waited for Cliff and the car to show up, and through the drive to the airport. Dean found it weird, and searched his brain for an explanation. There was only one thing that he knew of that would turn a guy from grouchy, to downright peppy, in an instant.

"Dude, you totally got laid!" Dean accused, glaring at Sam.

"What?" Sam spluttered, choking on air. _How had Dean figured it out?_

"You're downright cheerful this morning." Dean quipped.

"So? I'm a morning person." Sam attempted to deflect.

"No, that's not it. You're different this morning." Dean leaned over to closely examine Sam. He knew he was right, and he knew this would embarrass the modest Winchester.

"Dude, stop looking at me like that." Sam complained.

"Like what?" Dean asked innocently, sitting upright in his own seat once again.

"Like, like I'm a freak." Sam accused, using his go-to adjective.

"I can't help it if you got your freak on last night." Dean sat back smugly, he was waiting for Sam to crack.

He saw Cliff's shoulders shaking silently as he drove. Dean figured the guy was getting a kick out of their antics. And why wouldn't he, for that matter. He always knew he was funny, no matter what Sam said to the contrary.

"De-Jensen…" Sam warned, he was close to cracking.

"Yes, Jared?" Dean replied, batting his eyelashes at his brother in a mocking way.

"Fine, would it make you feel better if I told you, that Genevieve and I had sex?" Sam cracked under his brother's ridiculous mocking.

"Genevieve?" Dean questioned. It was the first time he'd heard fake Ruby's real name.

"Yes, Genevieve. Are you done now?" Sam asked, feeling entirely uncomfortable with the topic of conversation.

The sight of a plane waiting on an airstrip, was the answer to Sam's prayers. He quickly hopped out of the car, and walked to where the plane was sitting, side door open. While Sam talked to the crew, Cliff turned to Dean, who was still sitting in the backseat.

"Sorry to pry, but uh, why are we picking up packages at 8 a. m. that haven't cleared customs yet?" Cliff asked. Luckily for his charges, they weren't due to set now until 9, call time having been pushed back from 7.

"Just saving time." Dean replied smoothly. Just then, Sam returned to the car, box in hand. "All right, here we go."

"Not doing anything illegal, are we?" Cliff asked both boys, turning around in his seat to look at them.

"Would it make you feel better if we said no?" Sam asked back.

"No." Cliff said, turning around in his seat once again. The car engine fired, and Cliff drove the Winchesters to the studio where the set was located.

When they got there, nobody was around, lights were off, and both brothers assumed they were home free. Unfortunately for them, that wouldn't be the case today. Just as they were cutting the tape on the packaging, and grabbing the bowl to mix the ingredients, the lights snapped on and the big guy from the day before, the one with the annoyingly high voice, was talking. They heard voices and footsteps get closer as they tried making sense of what was going on. Before an answer presented itself, a number of members from the crew came around the corner.

"What is this? Here for the first run through before anyone else? Dedication!" The big guy praised the Winchesters.

"Can I talk to you for a second." Dean said to the guy. Walking up so he was closer to him, he said: "Um, we're going to need the set cleared. For say, safe side, an hour or so."

"You need it cleared?" The big guy questioned, his brows pulled down into a frown.

"Yeah, yeah, me and um, Jared, we're going to do some actor stuff." Dean said, giving the guy a look that screamed 'please understand what I'm talking about, and give us the set to ourselves.'

"Jensen, we're thrilled to see you collaborating so creatively, and your enthusiasm is refreshing. You know, Dean Cain was like that on Lois, and that man's a real actor. And we will clear this set exactly when we shoot the 2 and 3 days pages we're scheduled to shoot on this set. So, you do your actors stuff, and we'll do our camera stuff." The man said, shooting down Dean's hope of getting back home anytime soon.

He spotted Sam sitting in some chairs off to the side, and went off to tell him what was going on for the day. "Uh, so, bad news; looks like we're going to have to do a little acting." He told him nervously.

"What?" Sam asked, scared.

Dean saw Misha, or fake Castiel sitting in a chair looking over a script, and another empty chair next to him. No one was sitting in it, so he paid it no mind. It wasn't long before both brothers were prepped and ready to 'act.' A kid ran up with a device, called the scene, take, and slated for sound, and action was called.

"Balthazar is no hero, but he knows Raphael will never take him back." Misha said, in a perfect imitation of Castiel.

Dean, very stiffly, moved forward, casting his eyes to the ground to figure out where he was supposed to be. Instantly the big guy called "Cut!"

He shuffled back into place, Misha doing the same, before the same kid came out and slated another take of the same scene.

"Balthazar is no hero, but he knows Raphael will never take him back." Misha said again.

Sam was moving his arms about as if he wasn't sure what to do with them this time, and Dean was still as stiff as ever, but at least he wasn't looking down. Their faces were as though they were trying too hard to model or something.

"And yet, somehow, you ain't got no problem with it." Dean replied, absolutely no inflection to his voice whatsoever.

"Cut!" The big guy yelled again.

Things were reset once again, except this time there was a girl playing with Misha's hair. When action was called again, Misha put his hand on her shoulder and guided her away so he could start the scene. This time, Sam was able to get a line in.

"It's because, it's because we have no other choice." Sam said, overdramatically.

All of the sudden, Dean muttered: "don't look at the camera."

"What?" Sam asked.

"Look anywhere but at the camera." Dean advised, resuming his overexaggerated blue steel glare, directed towards Misha.

Sam, assuming maybe his brother knew what he was talking about, repeated his line, this time looking at the ceiling to avoid any eye contact with the camera in front of them.

"Cut!" Once again, was called.

Another take had Sam and Dean not saying anything at all, just staring weirdly at Misha. Everyone was dumbfounded at the situation, while Sam and Dean were trying so hard to do something right. Once again, things were reset, and they were good for another try.

"If there's a key, then there must also be a lock." Sam got out this time, his hands in front of him in a zombie-ish sort of way.

Again, they were reset to go again.

"If there's a key, then there has to be a lock. And when we find the lock, we can get the weapons, and then we can have the weapons. And the lock will also have a lock I imagine, because we opened it, and the initial key that opens..." Sam went off on a nervous rant.

"We need to get all three of that crap." Dean interrupted, the tone he used could only be described as that of a growling robot.

"What?" Sam asked, not having understood Dean's line.

"That's how he does it." Dean whispered, and gestured with his hand to indicate that he'd been trying to imitate Misha.

The brothers floundered for another second before Dean turned to the crew and asked loudly, "do we really need all these lines? I think we've covered it, eh?"

"CUT!" The big guy looked like he was about to have a panic attack.

Dean and Sam looked horrified while the crew had a proverbial melt down. Taking scripts, Dean, Sam, and even Misha walked over to the chairs and took a seat.

"Who wrote this? Nobody says 'penultimate!'" Sam complained indicating the script.

"Gun, mouth, now." Dean replied, imitating his hand being the gun, and shooting himself in the head.

Turning his head to look around, he saw the not so pregnant version of Hermione walking toward where they were sitting. Dean hit Sam's arm to get his attention.

"Dude!" Sam complained at first, unknowing as to why his brother was beating his arm in the first place.

"It's Hermione, but not Hermione. Where's the baby?" Dean asked, panic settling in.

"Oh." Sam's eyes went wide at seeing a skinny, not so pregnant Hermione.

When she reached where they were sitting Misha spoke up: "morning Emma."

"Morning Misha, Jared, Jensen." Emma greeted briefly, before taking a seat beside Misha.

Dean was really starting to panic with this development. In this reality, Hermione wasn't Hermione, she was Emma, and she wasn't pregnant. This could only mean his Hermione was still at Bobby's, the real Bobby's.

 _Fuck._

"Aren't you supposed to be pregnant?" He asked before he could censor himself.

"Aren't you supposed to be a great actor?" Emma replied, rolling her eyes.

"What's that supposed to mean?" Dean asked, getting defensive.

"You're bungling the schedule, you blithering idiot." Was the response from the less than friendly Emma.

"Well, I'm sorry princess." Dean snarked, turning back around in his seat.

"Don't apologize to me, I get paid either way." She replied, shifting her attention from the defensive actor, to her script.

"Moving on. Emma, Misha, you're up for your scene together." Someone called, motioning for the fake Castiel, and Hermine to follow to a different set.

"Thank God." Sam said quietly, taking the package over to the desk prop for the Bobby's house set. Dean followed close behind, ready more so now to get home, than ever.

"All right, damn it, we earned this." Dean said, pulling out their purchases from the package.

They worked together to mix all of the ingredients they'd seen Balthazar use in a bowl. Once they were done, Dean carefully painted the sigil on the window they'd gone through originally. When he was done, they set aside the bowl and ran for the window. They busted through to the same mat they'd landed on 24 hours prior. It hadn't worked. Shaking off their landing, Sam and Dean walked back to Dean's trailer. Letting themselves in, Sam went to the table where he sat dejectedly.

"Maybe we did it wrong." He mused.

"No, no, that spell was perfect. It should have worked." Dean replied, taking a seat himself. He was already trying to figure out what went wrong, and how to fix it.

"What if it can't?" Sam questioned. "Look, I was up most of the night looking online. There's no sign that anything like the apocalypse happened here, ever. And as far as I can tell, monsters, ghosts, demons, they're all pretend."

"So, nobody's hunting them?" Dean questioned, confused.

"No hunters." Sam replied. "Look, maybe that's why our spell didn't work, Dean. You know, maybe here there's no supernatural, no magic."

Dean held up a hand to stop Sam's logic. "No demons, no hell, no heaven, no God?"

"Something like." Sam replied. "Even better, no angels."

Panic was starting to rise in Dean once again. There were upsides to this alternate universe, he'd give anyone that, but his life as Dean Winchester… There would be no Hermione, no baby for him on the way, here. He'd be giving up his entire life, and identity to be someone completely different. It wouldn't be bad for Sam, but for him, he wasn't sure if he could live this way, as himself, but not himself.


	11. Immortals

**Author's Note: Continued spoiler alert for The French Mistake. All characters owned by their creators.  
**

 **Chapter Inspiration: Immortals by Fall Out Boy**

* * *

 **Chapter 11**

Dean was grumpy. He just found out he may never be able to go home, back to his real life. He and Sam were walking across the set again, rather aimlessly this time.

"Maybe we can't get out of earth number 2 right now, but the least we can do is get the hell out of the Canadian part of it." Dean was saying to Sam as they walked. "If I hear one more conversation about hockey, I'm going to puke."

While Sam was looking one way, Dean wandered down a hall set in a different direction. Dean wasn't looking where he was going, so only Sam could see that Virgil was ahead of his brother. The angel was walking towards him, a malevolent look on his face. Yeah, he meant them harm.

"DEAN!" Sam yelled in warning.

Looking straight up, Dean discovered why Sam was yelling his name. There stood Virgil, at the top of a short flight of stairs that Dean had been about to go up.

"You think you can run?" The angel asked, raising a hand to smite Dean.

Sam yelled "NO!"

Unfortunately for Virgil, he was unable to smite the older Winchester. For a moment, everyone was confused, until Dean's conversation with Sam filtered through his brain.

"Sorry dude, mojo free zone." Dean informed the angel before throwing a punch that landed right in Virgil's face. The angel fell back under the force of it.

"No magic in the house." Sam confirmed forcefully.

"Which makes you, nothing but a dick." Dean continued in a cold voice before throwing yet another solid punch.

After that, it was two Winchesters versus a powerless angel in all out fisticuff. Being on a set, it didn't take long for others to notice the fight, and subsequently intervene. They restrained the brothers, who'd had the upper hand in the fight, giving Virgil the ability to sneak the key Balthazar gave Sam, out of the younger Winchester's pocket, and get away. Once Virgil was gone, Sam and Dean were released outside to walk the fight off and cool down, while the powers that ran the show had a meeting.

"Virgil broke through. Maybe he has a way to get back." Dean said to Sam, hopeful again that he might get home.

"Or, now he has no juice here, and now he's stuck, like us." Sam reasoned.

"Either way, I want to finish kicking his ass." Dean told Sam, irritated at the angel that'd been sent to kill him and his brother.

It was after dark now, and until they knew for sure whether they were to stay or go back to Sam's, they decided to go back and investigate the set designed to look like Bobby's study. What they weren't expecting was for the big guy to be sitting at the desk, waiting for them.

"There you are guys!" The man said jovially. "You got a minute?"

Actually, we're in the middle…" Sam started. "Of looking for…"

"That extra you tried to kill?" The man asked, his voice non-judgmental.

Both brothers turned to look at him, stunned.

"Is it money? Is this the kind of act that goes away if we can't scare up some coverage on a raise?" He continued. Sam and Dean's stunned faces changed to confused in a millisecond.

"More money?" Dean asked with a laugh. "You already pay these jokers enough as it is."

"Yeah." Sam agreed.

"Because I like to think, over these years, we've grown closer. That you don't think of me as Director Bob, or Executive Producer Bob Singer, but as Uncle Bob." The man now identified as Bob Singer continued, as if Dean hadn't interrupted about the amount of money Jensen and Jared were being payed to portray Sam and Dean.

"Wait, you're kidding. So, the character in the show 'Bobby Singer...'" Sam mused.

"What kind of a douchebag names a character after himself?" Dean questioned.

"Oh, that's not right." Sam whispered, agreeing with Dean's assessment.

"Okay guys, let's begin again." Bob said sheepishly.

The brothers agreed, turning to confer between themselves for a moment.

"You know what? I don't think Virgil would have shagged out of here without getting his mitts on that key." Dean whispered to Sam.

"Yeah, yeah, I agree." Sam said, his hand going to his pocket.

They missed the fact that Bob had gotten out of the chair and had been walking toward them. In fact, they hadn't been paying attention to anything until Bob put his hands on their shoulders, turning them so that he could say something. "Guys, you can't come to work on poppers, and smuggle kidney's in from Mexico, and make up your own lines as you go. You cannot make up your own lines. Good God, what about your careers?"

"You know what? Screw our careers, Bob." Sam said, stalking off.

Bob gave a surprised "What?"

"You heard my brother. Yes, I said brother, because you know what Bob? We're not actors, we're hunters, we're the Winchesters. Always have been, always will be, and where we're from, people don't know who we are. But you know what? We matter to that world. In fact, we've even saved the son of a bitch once or twice. Yeah, okay, here there may be some fans who give a crap about this nonsense." Dean ranted at the poor guy, who started off looking surprised, and was looking more and more let down as Dean went on.

"I wouldn't call it nonsense." Bob replied defensively.

"But, Bob Singer, if that even is your name, tell me this; what does it all mean?" Dean questioned.

Bob looked rather taken aback by everything Dean had verbally thrown at him. "Okay, this is good. I mean, we've all had our psychotic breaks, right? I can work with this." He responded, completely misreading the situation.

Just then, Sam rushed back into the room. "Dean, Virgil, I think he has the key."

Dean was stunned. If he had the key, they, and Cas, were screwed. Looking to Bob, Dean said the first thing that came to mind. "Bob, we quit." Then he and Sam were off to start looking for Virgil, the non-magical, homicidal angel.

They ran to where the car service was, and convinced Cliff that they needed to get back to Jared's, and fast. He drove them as fast as he could through Vancouver, arriving at the mansion in record time.

"Maybe if we can get inside the police dispatch system..." Sam suggested, pushing one of the double doors open.

"We can put out an A. P. B. on Virgil." Dean finished, stepping through the door and closing it behind him. "Might work if he stays obvious."

"It's not like we have a lot of time." Sam pointed out.

Before Dean could respond, they heard Gen's weepy voice call out "Oh my God! Oh my God!" She was standing in a doorway down the hallway to their right. Tears were running down her face unchecked, black mascara streaks marking where tears had fallen.

"What?" Sam asked, feeling somewhat protective.

"Misha, he's been stabbed to death!" Gen cried.

Dean and Sam looked at each other, both thinking the same thing. It had to have been Virgil. "Where?" They asked her at the same time.

Genevieve's eyes pulled down in a confused frown. That was a weird question for them to be asking her. "Where?" She questioned back. "Somewhere downtown. Near the convention center I think."

Sam and Dean turned, and walked back out the door they'd just walked through. Finding a garage, Sam went to a car that happened to be the new Dodge Challenger and fired her up. Thankfully the built-in GPS system directed them where to go to find the convention center. When they did find it, they saw cops already there, along with a coroner's vehicle, and the area was sectioned off by yellow caution tape. They walked cautiously through, and saw that they'd already draped Misha's body in a white cloth. The blood stain indicated to the brothers that his throat had been slashed. Beyond the body, they saw a man in a suit interviewing a homeless guy. He appeared to be talking about a Raphael.

They walked up to the homeless guy. "You saw what happened?" Sam asked.

"Yeah, yeah, the scary man, killed the attractive crying man, and then he started to pray. And the strange part, after a while, I swear I heard this voice answer him." The homeless guy replied.

"What'd it say?" Sam asked.

"It didn't make any sense." The guy answered, reluctant to answer Sam's question.

"Try us." Dean challenged, hoping the guy would reveal what he'd heard.

"The voice said for Virgil to return tomorrow, at the place where he crossed over, at the time of the crossing, and Raphael would reach through the window, and take him and the key home." The guy said after a moment's hesitation.

"Uh, hey, thank you." Dean replied, pulling some Canadian cash from a pocket. He separated out some bills and handed them to the guy.

The guy quickly scurried off, leaving Dean a little put out at his lack of gratitude. Sam however, was being more rational about what they'd just learned.

"Dean, if Virgil gets back with that key, Cas is dead, and our world is toast." He told his brother.

"Well, then we stop him." Dean replied. "And hell, how bad can an angel without wings be?"

"You realize you just said that out loud." Sam said to Dean.

"Oh come on, you know I don't buy that superstitious crap." Dean scolded Sam who was already rolling his eyes at the quip.

"Come on, there's nothing we can do tonight." Sam relented.

Getting back in the Charger, they went back to the set, where they would spend the night in Dean's trailer. Dean was antsy to get home and make sure Hermione was okay. He didn't like having to wait, but he had no other option. He closed his eyes and hoped for morning to arrive quickly.

The next morning dawned chilly, overcast, and rainy. Dean figured that was not a good sign for the things to come. They made their way back to the Bobby's study set, avoiding being seen, and waited.

"You know that if we drop Virgil, get the key, this might be it. We could be stuck here." Dean finally put voice to the one thing he was worried about.

"No, we'll figure out a way back." Sam replied, he needed to find a way back, for Dean.

"Yeah, you wouldn't be too broken up if we didn't though." Dean replied with a shrug, thinking about how much better Sam's life would be if he didn't go back.

"What? Don't be stupid." Sam replied.

"I'm just saying, no hell below you, above you only sky." Dean felt like this should be a no-brainer for Sam. Yeah, it would kill Dean to stay, but he honestly thought Sam being stuck here wouldn't be all that bad for his younger brother. The younger brother who'd wanted nothing for a long time, other than a normal life, and that's what here would give him, that Dean couldn't.

"Dean, our friends are back there. Hermione, and your child are back there." Sam reasoned.

"Yeah, but here, you had a pretty good life. I mean, back home, the hits have been coming since you were six months old." Dean defaulted back to his basic programming. Looking after his little brother. He did a lot wrong way back when Sam went off to Stanford, but he wasn't going to make the same mistakes this time. Even if righting his mistakes, meant making the sacrifice that had the potential to kill him inside. "You got to admit, being a bazillionare, married to Ruby, the whole package. There's no contest."

"You know, you were right." Sam replied, carefully laying out how he wanted to word his response to Dean's self-sacrificing crap. "We just don't mean the same thing here. I mean, we're not even brother's here, man."

Dean understood what Sam was saying. He didn't want to live in a world where his brother, wasn't his brother. With a nod, Dean accepted that Sam would choose to go home over staying. "All right then, let's get our crazy show back home."

The wait went on for Virgil in silence. They didn't have to wait for long before gun shots rang out in the building. Virgil had armed himself with a handgun, shotgun combination, and was shooting everyone around. Coming up with a split-second plan, Sam went one way, and Dean went another.

Sam stepped out from around one corner and yelled to get Virgil's attention. When he had succeeded, Dean took off barreling towards the angel. Luckily the shot he'd sent in Sam's direction missed, going through a window when Dean plowed into Virgil. He tackled him right through the walls of another set nearby. Once they landed, Dean threw a couple of punches that caught Virgil in the face before being elbowed in the jaw. Luckily, Dean quickly recovered to throw his opponent down to the ground, hard, before he could get another shot on the elder Winchester.

Just then, Sam burst through the set door. He wasn't prepared for Virgil, and ended up taking a punch right to the face. Sam recovered as fast as Dean had, and landed a punch before grabbing the defunct angel by the throat, slamming him down on the floor, and holding him there while Dean searched for the key. Virgil fought, but Sam knocked him out just as Dean grabbed the key from a pocket. No one noticed the glowing sigil on the window behind them. By the time they stood, the sigil was complete, and they were being hauled backward through the glass.


	12. Distance

**Author's Note: Final spoiler alert for The French Mistake episode. All characters belong to their creators.**

 **Chapter Inspiration: Distance by Christina Perri featuring Jason Mraz**

* * *

 **Chapter 12**

Dean and Sam landed hard on pavement. Looking around, they saw an African-American lady walking up to them. A derisive look on her face.

"You two." She said, disdain dripping from her words. "Have the strangest luck."

"Raphael?" Dean asked, curious to determine if this was the angel who wanted his, Sam's, and Cas's heads, all on pikes.

The woman didn't reply, merely nodded infinitesimally. "Nice meat suit." Dean quipped. "Dude looks like a lady."

Raphael, unamused with Dean's remarks, raised a fist rendering the brothers in intense pain. They both reacted by doubling over, but Dean's hand relaxed, dropping the key.

"The key." Raphael commented calmly, bending over to pick it up.

"And that will open you a locker at the Albany bus station." Balthazar appeared and informed the archangel.

"Really?" Raphael asked the newly arrived angel.

"You see, I needed a modest decoy to make it more convincing." Balthazar explained.

"Give me the weapons." Raphael demanded.

"Sorry darling, they're gone." Balthazar informed, well everyone standing in the motel parking lot Sam and Dean had gotten yanked into.

"What!" Raphael was outraged, but calm.

"I said, too bloody late. You see, they were so well hidden, that I needed time to find them. So, I volunteered these two, for a game of fetch with Virgil." Balthazar started. Hearing that they were set up as a diversion had Sam fuming angry, and Dean beyond pissed. "You two were such an adequate stick, thank you, thank you boys."

"You've made your last mistake." The archangel threatened Balthazar.

"Oh, I've got a few more up my sleeve, honey." Balthazar replied, goading Raphael.

Raphael stepped forward to smite Balthazar when there was a whooshing of wings, then the real Castiel's voice sounded from behind her.

"Step away from him, Raphael." Castiel commanded. "I have the weapons now; their power is with me." At that moment, thunder sounded, and lightening flashed showing the shadow of Castiel's impressive wings.

"Castiel." Raphael shouldn't have been surprised, but somehow the sneaky angels had pulled one over on him.

"If you don't want to die tonight, back off." Castiel replied, his voice hard.

Balthazar smirked, and just like that, Raphael left. The play had been made, and Raphael was no longer an immediate threat.

"Well Cas, now that you have your sword, try not to die by it." Balthazar told Castiel, giving him a crooked smile in comradery. Castiel barely acknowledged the sentiment, but his eyes did soften a fraction. Just like that, Balthazar was gone. Now it was down to just the Winchesters and Castiel in the motel parking lot.

"Cas, what the hell?" Sam asked.

Without a word, Castiel walked up to the brothers and transported them back to Bobby's, where there was still a hole in the wall.

"Wait, you were in on this?" Sam asked angrily now that they were back where they started from. "Using us as a diversion?"

"It was Balthazar's plan. I would have done the same thing." Castiel replied, no inflection of remorse in his tone.

"That's not comforting Cas." Dean piped up angrily. He hadn't just used them, he'd left Hermione and his baby in danger, and that was not okay with him.

"When will I be able to make you understand. If I lose against Raphael, we all lose, everything." Castiel had turned to face Dean, so he could impress upon him the seriousness of the situation he had found himself in, when Balthazar concocted the plan to use him and his brother.

"Yeah Cas, we know the stakes. That's about all you've told us." Dean yelled angrily. Hermione woke with a start at the sound of Dean yelling. He sounded distressed, so she got up and as quietly as she could, she toddled down the stairs to listen.

"I'm sorry about all this, I'll explain when I can." Castiel replied before disappearing.

"Freaking angels." Dean muttered.

Having heard the whoosh of Cas's wings, Hermione rushed around the corner. She hadn't been expecting to see Sam and Dean looking spooked in front of a large hole in Bobby's study where the window had been. Dean felt Hermione's eyes on him. Slowly he turned to look at her for the first time in 3 days. She looked the same as when he'd left, wearing sweatpants and one of his AC/DC t-shirts, hair in a ponytail. She'd never looked so beautiful to him. It took a second for his feet to register the command from his brain, but when they did, he was striding across the room quickly. When he got to her, he wrapped her in a hug as tight as he dared without hurting her, or their baby.

"Dean, are you all right?" Hermione asked, her arms coming around his waist.

Instead of answering her verbally, Dean slanted his mouth over Hermione's, locking her in a passionate kiss. He poured everything he couldn't say out loud into that one kiss, and prayed she understood it. Her lips responding back to his reassured him, and so he lost himself to it. He was so willing to get lost in the kiss that he missed the disgusted noise from Sam's throat. Hermione however, heard it, so she broke the kiss, but she pressed her forehead firmly to her hunter's.

"What was that for?" Hermione asked.

"I missed you." Dean reluctantly admitted.

"Dean, I've only been asleep for maybe an hour." Hermione replied, looking at the clock in the living room.

"What?" Dean questioned.

"I don't know what happened to you guys, or why there's a hole where Bobby's study window used to be, but it's only been an hour since I went upstairs to go to sleep." Hermione explained.

Dean pulled away from Hermione while the information soaked into his brain. He watched Sam walk over to a door jam and hit it with his hand. Sam let out a sigh of relief. "Solid. It's real. Nice." He told Dean.

"Yeah, yeah, real, moldy, termite eaten, home sweet home. Chock full of crap that want to skin you. Oh, and uh, we're broke again." Dean quipped. Hermione was busy looking back and forth between the two like they had lost their minds.

Sam scoffed softly. "Yeah, but hey, at least we're talking." Dean rolled his eyes at the quip.

"Okay, what did I miss?" Hermione asked, her arms coming up to cross in front of her chest.

Dean, who'd been three days without seeing, or being near her, was in a fairly pervy mood around her, and that move didn't help him at all. His eyes went straight to her chest.

"My eyes are up here, Dean." Hermione saw right where his eyes went, and called him out much to Sam's amusement. "Not funny moose." Sam's face paled at her nickname. There's no way she could have known the King of Hell had also dubbed him 'moose.'

"Where did you hear that?" Sam asked.

"I made it up. You're super tall." Hermione dismissed the question in favor of getting an answer to hers. "Now is anyone going to tell me what's going on?"

"Freaking angels zapped us into an alternate reality. There it was three days, here apparently, an hour." Dean replied, his fingertips coming up to rub his forehead. He was getting a headache.

"I'll put on some coffee for you. You guys look like you're about to collapse." Hermione said, dropping her arms and heading for the kitchen.

Before she could start making the coffee, Dean and Sam made another one of those telepathic decisions they were good at. "Hey Hermione, no coffee, let's just go to bed." Dean suggested, his shoulder coming to rest on the doorway opening into the kitchen.

"Are you sure?" She asked, looking from her hunter, to his younger, taller brother.

"Yes I'm sure, and isn't tomorrow the big day anyway?" Dean asked.

"Yes, it is." Hermione replied with a slight blush.

"Well then, Sammy, we're going to bed. Big day for us tomorrow." Dean told his brother as he grabbed Hermione's hand. Together they ascended the stairs to the bedroom, and beds that they shared.

Dean woke first the next morning and discovered he slept in the same position all night. He was curled around Hermione, his hand around her waist. He smirked slightly, as his hand began to caress her where their child was growing. A kick pressed against his fingertips causing his smirk to grow into a full-blown smile. Today was the day they'd find out what they were having. He was nervous about her apparating to England, but trusted that she wouldn't do it if it wasn't safe.

"Little one just told you good morning." Hermione mumbled, startling Dean who had no idea she had woken.

"How long have you been awake?" He asked, nuzzling a nose into her hair.

"Since the kick." Hermione replied, snuggling closer to Dean.

"Well then, let's start this over again. Good morning you two." Dean quipped.

"Good morning. What time is it?" Hermione asked. Even though she was awake, her eyes were still closed. She wanted to relish the moment she found herself in.

Dean lifted the arm that had been around her waist, and bent it so he could look at the watch on his wrist. "It's 7 a. m." He told her, before returning his arm to its previous position.

"I should get up and get ready. We need to apparate in less than an hour." Hermione told him, moving from her side onto her back so she could stretch.

Reluctantly Dean removed his arm from her waist, giving her room to stretch out. He rolled and sat up on the edge of his side of the bed. Rubbing the sleep from his eyes, he got up to grab his clothes for the day from the old dresser that was in the room. Slowly, Hermione did the same, except she pulled her clothes from the duffle bag she'd brought with her from Hogwarts. They both dressed fairly quickly, Dean wearing his usual: jeans, and a black t-shirt under a plaid button up that he cuffed the sleeves to his elbow. Hermione dressed in a pair of her maternity jeans, and the plaid shirt she'd stolen from Dean when he was staying with her in England.

"Hey, I wondered where that shirt went." Dean retorted when he saw what she was wearing.

"I sneaked it out of your duffle months ago," Hermione told him.

"Wait, what?" Dean was confused.

"I got it out of your bag when you and Bobby were staying at Hogwarts. I wanted something to remember you by, so sue me." Hermione snapped.

"Woah!" Dean held his hands up in a gesture of surrender. It was one of those times her pregnancy hormones had U-turned on him. "I didn't mean it like that."

Hermione's hands went to her hips, but before she could retort back, her hormones made another sharp U-turn on them both, when her eyes filled up with tears. "You don't want me to wear your shirt?" She asked, her voice breaking.

"Shit!" Dean swore. He was starting to get whiplash from the mood swings. "I didn't say that." He replied to her in a gentle tone. "I don't care that you're wearing my shirt. I was just saying; I didn't know you'd taken it when I was looking for it. That's all." He moved so he was standing directly in front of her, taking her hands in his.

"So, you're not mad at me?" Hermione asked for clarification.

"No, I'm not." Dean told her, dropping a light kiss on her nose.

Just then, a familiar whoosh filled the room. "Hermione is distressed." Castiel announced.

Dean groaned, and dropped his forehead onto her shoulder. "Cas, now is not the best time for this." He warned, not lifting his head, and Hermione chuckled, the tears in her eyes drying.

"I sensed distress. Where is the danger?" The angel asked.

"There's no danger, Castiel. Dean and I were just talking, and my emotions decided to show him how fast they can change now." Hermione explained, her thumbs automatically rubbing soft circles into the backs of Dean's hands.

"Fucking hormones." Dean swore, his head still resting on Hermione's shoulder. It kept his anger towards Castiel at bay.

"Very well, if there's no danger then…" Castiel didn't finish his sentence before he was off again.

Dean lifted his head and looked around. "Figures." He said before releasing Hermione's hands. "We good?" He asked her.

"Yeah, we're good. Sorry to go all pregnant woman on you." Hermione replied, her cheeks flushing in embarrassment.

"Don't be sorry. It's not like I didn't do this." Dean replied.

"You didn't do it alone." Hermione deadpanned.

"That's true, I distinctly remember…" Dean started before Hermione cut him off.

"And now, I think it's time to go." She interrupted.

"Let's do this." Dean said. Hermione gave him a smile before picturing their destination and jerking her wand to activate the apparition spell.


	13. With Arms Wide Open

**Author's Notes: These characters belong to their creators.  
**

 **Chapter Inspiration: With Arms Wide Open by Creed**

* * *

 **Chapter 13**

The ground came up fast and hard under Dean's feet. It had been a while since he'd apparated, so he was definitely out of practice. In fact, he'd nearly fallen over, so he'd let go of Hermione so he wouldn't accidentally pull her over. He was attempting to behave himself. He looked to Hermione who was studying building in front of her. They were standing between two shops on a busy street in London.

"Uh, where's the doctor's office?" Dean asked looking around.

"You can't see it because you're a muggle." Hermione informed him still gazing at the blank wall that Dean could see.

"So are you." He pointed out.

"I mean, you're a non-magical muggle." Hermione clarified. She was reading the instructions for bringing a non-magical muggle inside the office.

"You mean a no-maj?" Dean replied, in an attempt to be funny.

"You think you're funny." Hermione quipped, kissing him on the cheek lightly. She found him funnier than she would let on.

"So, what's the deal? How do we get in?" Dean asked.

"Technically, I could go in now, and leave you standing here. However, I'm not that kind of person, so I'm reading the instructions as to how to get you in." Hermione informed him.

"Oh, all right." Dean replied. He was starting to get nervous. This would make things a little bit more real to him.

Dean was shifting around from one foot to the other beside Hermione, who continued to read. The process seemed easy enough, she was just nervous. This would be the first time she had Dean with her, and she was still unsure how he would react. Sure, he said he wanted to be involved, but he could always change his mind. The memory of how his fingertips had caressed her belly just a little bit ago filtered through her mind. Somehow it gave her the confidence to grab the charm hanging from a golden hook beside the entrance. She held it out to Dean who eyed it suspiciously.

"What is _that_?" He questioned, emphasizing the 'that.'

Rolling her eyes, Hermione explained. "It's the charm that will allow you to enter the healer's office."

"I have to wear a necklace?" Dean asked.

"Dean Winchester, if you don't put the necklace on, you can't come in, and I won't tell you what the baby is. I'll make you wait until it's born!" She threatened.

"Fine." Dean relented, holding his hands up in the gesture of surrender for the second time since they'd woken up.

He took the gold necklace from her fingertips and pulled it on over his head. As soon as it was situated under the collar of his t-shirt, he turned to the building once again. This time, instead of seeing a blank wall, he saw steps leading down to double glass doors with writing etched in the surface of the glass: Luna Lovegood, Healer.

"Luna's your healer?" Dean asked, his mind easily recalling the small blond haired witch he'd met during the Battle of Hogwarts.

"Yeah. You met Luna?" Hermione asked.

"I did, when I was with Harry, while you were off with Ron." Dean explained, still a little freaked at the appearance of an entrance in the middle of a solid building.

"Oh, brilliant." Was all Hermione replied. Deciding that stalling was no longer an option, Hermione gently took Dean's hand and pulled him along with her. They descended the steps, and walked through the glass door. Hermione kept her hand in Dean's as she walked up to the receptionist window.

"Name?" The receptionist asked in a bored tone of voice.

"Hermione Granger."

With a flick of the wand, the receptionist summoned Hermione's file to the desk. "You're a prenatal patient, correct?" The woman asked, never once looking at the very obviously pregnant witch.

"Correct." Hermione responded quickly when she heard Dean's sharp inhale.

"Any changes to report?" The woman asked again.

"This will be my last appointment with Luna. I'm going to be seeing an American doctor after this." Hermione informed the woman, much to Dean's satisfaction.

A quill took the information down, word for word. Once Hermione had finished speaking, it put itself, tip down, back in the bottle of ink. Dean watched it wide eyed. He still wasn't used to much in the magical world. "Very well. I'll let Ms. Lovegood know you're here." The receptionist said, still not looking up from the book she had open on the desk.

Dean was about to retort that she should be paying attention, and do her job, until he felt Hermione's hand press on his chest. She moved him so they could go sit in uncomfortable looking plastic chairs. "She wasn't even paying attention to anything." Dean whispered once they were sitting.

"I know. I'm used to it since I've been coming here for a while now. Luna says that as soon as she can replace her, she's going to." Hermione whispered back.

"Good." Dean agreed. Just then a wooden door opened, and Luna peeked around it to see them sitting there.

"Hermione! Dean!" Luna greeted sunnily.

"Hi Luna." Hermione greeted lively.

"How's it going? Dean, I'm happy to see you again. I see you still have very few nargles." Luna rambled, not allowing a second for either to answer her initial question. She was leading them down a hallway as she talked. "I'm assuming, since Dean's here, he's the father? Oh, what a good looking baby this is going to be." She continued talking as she opened an exam room door for them to enter. Hermione immediately went over to the exam table and sat on it, Dean stood beside her, a little shell shocked at Luna's rambling. "At least today, you'll be able to find out what you're having, that is if you want to know. If you don't, I don't have to run the charm. I mean, I can if you want me to. I also want to listen to the heartbeat, just to make sure everything is as it should be."

"Luna, breathe." Hermione finally interrupted with a laugh.

"I apologize for my rambling." Luna finally said. "Hermione, how are you feeling?"

"Other than tired and hungry all of the time?" Hermione asked with a laugh. Dean frowned, he'd seen her eat meals since she showed back up, and they were normal sized at reasonable times. Was she not eating when she was hungry between meals? This was something he resolved to talk to her about once they got back to Bobby's.

"That's completely normal. Your morning sickness gone?" Luna asked.

"For the most part. Every once in a while, I still feel nauseous, but that's only when I'm stressed." Hermione replied.

Dean absorbed everything Hermione was telling Luna. He resolved to make extra sure he wasn't putting her under any stress.

"That's good. First, some measurements." Luna said, her voice completely professional, but kind. With a flick of her wand, measurements appeared in the air. Another magical quill took down the information, without Luna manipulating it.

"Well?" Dean asked once the numbers had dissipated.

"All's normal Dean. I have no concerns based off her measurements. In fact, she measures where she should for being six months along." Luna reassured him kindly. Hermione squeezed his hand in reassurance.

"Good." He replied, squeezing Hermione's hand back.

"Before I listen to the heartbeat, are you guys finding out the sex?" Luna asked them.

"Yes." Both Hermione and Dean replied at the same time.

"Okay then." Luna replied with a laugh. "Hermione, you know the drill."

Hermione laid on her back on the table, and unbuttoned the buttons of Dean's plaid, just to under her breasts. Dean tried hard not to stare at every inch of skin revealed. Once she was positioned, she reached out to Dean. He didn't hesitate to take her hand in both of his. He moved so he was standing right next to her head. Once they were ready, Luna approached the exam table with her wand.

"You may want to explain to Dean what you're doing. I may be familiar with all of this, but he's not." Hermione warned, sneaking a look at Dean's apprehensive face.

"Not a problem. What I'm going to do first is an amplifying charm. It will allow the heartbeat to be audible to our ears." Luna explained. She mumbled something in Latin, pointing the wand at Hermione's stomach. Almost immediately, a steady noise filled the room. Hermione's eyes welled up with tears at the familiar sound. Looking to Dean she saw that his eyes had gone wide. Shock registered across his features, saturating his brilliant green eyes.

"That's awfully fast, isn't it?" He asked Luna, his voice taking on an unusual breathy tone.

"Actually, it's rather perfect. Very healthy heartbeat." Luna replied, her blue eyes sparkling as she smiled comfortingly at Dean. He felt Hermione squeeze his hand again in a comforting gesture.

Another flick of the wand, and the sound stopped. Dean blinked, recording the sound to memory. He would never admit it out loud, but it had been the most amazing sound he'd ever heard. His eyes were drawn to the quill that had started writing again on its own. He was excited for the next part though.

"All right, now let's see what you're having." Luna announced. "Dean, this is a spell that can sense the DNA code. It'll pull the information and form it into a hair like wisp, when I touch the wand to Hermione's stomach, the wisp will attach to the tip of it. Once it's removed, it'll either turn pink or blue. Pink for a girl, blue for a boy, obviously."

"Is it going to hurt either of them?" Dean asked. He was pretty sure he liked the non-magical way of discovering the gender of a baby better, after hearing that explanation.

"No, there's no pain for Hermione, and it won't harm the baby at all." Luna assured him.

"Okay." Dean replied skeptically.

"Luna, the only way you'll convince him is to prove it. Go ahead." Hermione told the witch.

Luna smiled. "Very well." She spoke another charm over Hermione's stomach, then lightly touched the tip of her wand to the center of Hermione's stomach. Dean squeezed Hermione's hand when he saw the tip light up. Pulling the wand away, he saw the wisp Luna had described. It glowed a white color.

"What does white mean?" Dean asked fearfully.

"Give it a minute." Luna gently scolded.

About thirty seconds passed before there was a change in the color of the wisp. The white glow faded, and color replaced the white. Dean's face paled, and Hermione's eyes widened, tears filling anew.

"Congratulations mom and dad, it seems you're having a girl!" Luna announced happily.

Hermione's tears overflowed down her cheeks. Dean however, was frozen. Of all the things that had happened to him over the years, this was probably the most wonderful, and terrifying thing of them all. How in the world was he, Dean Winchester, supposed to handle a daughter? Hermione looked to Dean, and her joy instantly faded. He was standing so still, face white as a ghost. He most certainly did not look happy.

"Dean?" Hermione asked softly, fearfully.

Hearing the fear in Hermione's voice, Dean shook himself from the stupor the news had put him in. He gave her a reassuring smile as Luna bustled around the room. She was giving Hermione some kind of talk, but neither were hearing it. When she was done, she left them in the room, inviting the young parents to stay for as long as they needed. Once the door was closed, Hermione sat up to rebutton the shirt she was wearing.

"Are you okay?" Hermione asked.

"Yeah, I'm fine." Dean brushed off the shock.

"You're lying." Hermione said bluntly.

"I'm surprised, that's all." He told her, stepping closer to press a kiss to the top of her head. "I never thought this would ever happen to me, let alone that I'd be outnumbered by girls." He smirked, giving Hermione a wink.

"Outnumbered by girls, huh?" Hermione joked, sliding her arms around Dean's waist.

"Yeah, you'll just gang up on me." Dean predicted with a laugh, one arm wrapping around Hermione's shoulders.

"I bet she's going to have you, her Uncle Sam, and Grandpa Bobby all wrapped around her tiny little fingers." Hermione smiled as she said that.

"Sam and Bobby, definitely." Dean partially agreed.

"Uh huh." Hermione decided to humor him. Dean helped her down from the exam table, and dropped an arm over her shoulders. "Would you mind if we made a stop before we go back to Bobby's?"

"It's fine. You're the one transporting us around magically." Dean replied with a shrug.

"I just want to stop at Hogwarts. I want to tell Harry, Ron, Ginny, Hannah, and Professor McGonagall." Hermione replied.

When they'd stepped into the waiting room, Dean pulled Hermione so she was facing him. Placing his hands over where his daughter lay, he pressed a soft, meaningful kiss to Hermione's lips.

"What was that for?" Hermione asked gently. She knew Dean didn't do the feely stuff. He showed more than he said. His kiss the night prior spoke volumes about what he couldn't say, the way he'd been with her six months ago, said things to her that he had never vocalized. She knew her hunter, and he was likely about to blow off the kiss, but it had meant something. She just had to read it like she was learning how.

"Everything." Dean replied. He half hated himself, and half praised himself for not putting his feelings into articulated words. It was dangerous in his line of work to say such things out loud. That, and he considered it a threat to his macho exterior. He hoped his vague reply would speak more to her. Little did he know, it had, and Hermione fell for him just a little bit more.


	14. Those Nights

**Author's Notes: I don't own the characters, except for baby Winchester!  
**

 **Chapter Inspiration: Those Nights by Skillet**

* * *

 **Chapter 14**

Hermione and Dean apparated into the front courtyard of Hogwarts, a familiar landing place for the couple. Dean looked around at the courtyard. It had been rebuilt, and the castle entrance no longer had the piles of debris. In fact, it was looking like a battle had never taken place here. He whistled in appreciation.

"What was that for?" Hermione asked, cocking her head to look at him.

"I'm impressed. In six months, this area at least looks like nothing bad ever took place here." Dean replied, still scanning the courtyard.

"It's where the majority of the volunteers felt like starting. They felt rebuilding the entrance, and courtyard first, was some kind of symbol to the community." Hermione replied.

"Were you one of the majority?" Dean asked curiously. He didn't really know a lot about the stuff she'd been doing after he'd left her here.

"I agreed, though I was on a team relegated to preparing the Great Hall to be restored to its former glory." Hermione replied with a small smile.

"The Great Hall?" Dean asked.

Hermione swallowed around a lump she was sure would take up residence in her throat every time she thought of the Battle of Hogwarts, as well as those who'd died. "It's where we sat waiting for Harry when he went to the Forbidden Forrest. You know, where they were laying out the dead."

Her voice, though soft, was so full of pain. Dean pulled her into a tight embrace, remembering somberly the lives lost around him. Though he didn't know most of them, he still felt grief at their passing. "I shouldn't have asked." He reproached himself.

"It's okay. I'll probably always feel rather emotional about that night." Hermione replied, rubbing her cheek against Dean's solid, warm, chest.

"Understandable." Dean empathized.

With a small smile, Hermione leaned back just enough so she could see Dean's face. He smiled down at her, and for once in his life as a hunter, he felt a true happiness. He wasn't sure if it was just Hermione, or the combination of Hermione, his daughter, and the magic of Hogwarts, but it felt right. All of it, and he couldn't figure out why. Her arms tightened around his waist minutely, giving him a tender squeeze. He wasn't entirely sure what she was trying to communicate to him, but he wondered if it had anything to do with her signing off her last letter to him 'Love, Hermione.'

"Thank you for being you." Hermione told him in a rare moment of sharing with him exactly what she was feeling.

"You're welcome?" Dean replied, unsure how to take the compliment. Nobody had ever thanked him for being himself before, not even Sam.

Hermione could sense what she'd said made him uncomfortable, so she gently pulled out of his embrace and took his hand. "Let's go see everybody." She said, giving him the perfect out.

"Go on momma." Dean replied. Her brilliant smile made everything worth it once again. The discomfort he'd felt at her compliment faded completely, and his worries about parenting a daughter seemed insignificant.

She pulled on his hand as she led him up the stairs to the door. Pushing it open, she saw there were few people milling around. Must be there was a major project going on. She peeked into the Great Hall, there were a few people there, but she wasn't sure as they'd know where she could find anyone. Deciding to go see the headmistress, she led Dean toward the other end of the hall. When she reached the statue, she firmly stated the password.

"Animagus Tabby."

"What?" Dean asked, completely befuddled.

"It's the password that activates the stairs. See?" She explained gesturing to the staircase now spiraling upwards.

"So, it's like a password protected escalator?" Dean asked.

"Something like that." Hermione replied, smiling at Dean's childlike reactions.

"It's a passcalator!" Dean exclaimed, proud of himself.

Hermione outright laughed. "Whatever you say, silly."

"Hey, that was a good one, and you know it." Dean retorted, poking Hermione's waist. She giggled, and swatted his hand away.

By the time the couple composed themselves, they were at the door to the headmistress's office. Hermione knocked loudly, looking up at Dean with eyes twinkling with mischief and joy.

"Come in." They heard the professor call.

Hermione pushed the wooden door open, and entered, Dean following along behind her. "Hello Professor." She greeted.

"Hermione! What have I told you about addressing me?" The elder witch asked firmly.

"I'm sorry, Minerva." Hermione corrected herself sheepishly.

"Very good, dear. Dean, I'm pleased to see you again." Minerva greeted warmly.

"You too." Dean replied awkwardly.

"What are you guys doing here?" Minerva asked, a smile softening her naturally stern features.

"Well, we came to tell everyone our news. I wanted to tell you before I went wandering around looking for Harry and Ron." Hermione replied happily.

"What news do you come bearing?" Minerva asked, her eyes bright.

Hermione looked to Dean who just nodded at her to go ahead. This was why they were here after all. "Dean and I just found out what we're having."

"So, am I buying pink or blue?" Minerva asked.

"It's a girl." Hermione couldn't hold it back any longer.

"Oh, how lovely!" Minerva replied, standing. She bustled around her desk to embrace Hermione happily. Dean hid a smile behind his hand, pretending to rub a hand down his jaw. Once Minerva had released Hermione, she stepped around her and embraced Dean just as tightly. "You two will make marvelous parents."

"Thank you." Dean replied awkwardly.

Minerva released him, and looked between the expecting parents. "Oh goodness, Hermione, you're always welcome here, you know that. Dean, I don't want to pressure you, I know you're a hunter and all, but, should you decide, I can find a place for you on our teaching staff. I mean, if you decided hunting and raising a family is too difficult. In fact, the Ministry supports adding a course in the supernatural to the current curriculum."

Dean's head was spinning all the sudden. The elderly witch just offered him an exit from hunting, while still not cutting it completely from his life. A life which might be better suited to being with Hermione, and raising their daughter at her side.

"Of course, you don't have to decide right now, or even today. You have the option open to you. I'd offered Hermione the post as a professor in any area of study, with the exception of transfiguration, but then she left us to tell you about the baby. I'm sure she won't take me up on my offer unless you do." Minerva continued to address Dean, much to Hermione's embarrassment.

Dean looked to a blushing Hermione, who had both hands pressed to her cheeks. He quirked a brow at her. One thing became very clear to Dean: Hermione had no reason whatsoever to tell him about his daughter. She had a life here, and had a prospect at a job where she would have been safe. She had friends, and colleagues that looked up to her, and yet she'd turned it all down, and chose him. The weight of that realization alone had him swimming in guilt. He turned his attention from a bright red Hermione, back to Minerva. "I appreciate the offer ma'am..." Dean started.

Minerva lifted a stern brow at him. "Dean, don't you ma'am me. Minerva is my name." She scolded. Hermione giggled softly at Dean's expression. He looked like a little boy who'd just been scolded for having been caught with a hand in the cookie jar.

"I apologize, Minerva. I appreciate the offer, but I want to think about it." Dean replied, starting again.

"Of course, of course. Take all the time you guys need!" Minerva assured Dean pressing a gentle hand on his shoulder. "Now, you're welcome to spend as much time here as you'd like. I believe Mr. Potter and Mr. Weasley are down helping with the new Quidditch Pitch."

"Why doesn't that surprise me." Hermione quipped, rolling her eyes.

"Quidditch?" Dean asked, looking between the two women.

"I'll explain on the way." Hermione said, looking at Dean with a soft smile.

"Apparate down dear, it's quite a distance for you." Minerva pinned Hermione with a matronly stare.

"Very well, Minerva." Hermione acquiesced.

"Minerva, is it safe for her to be apparating?" Dean asked before he could stop himself. He knew Harry had said it was, but he was still hesitant.

"For now, yes. I wouldn't recommend it for much longer though." Minerva replied, returning to her seat behind the desk.

"Okay." Dean replied.

"You ready?" Hermione asked, taking Dean's hand.

"As ready as I'll ever be." He replied, twining his fingers with hers.

"We'll stop in before we go back to the States." Hermione said to Minerva.

"Very well. Stay as long as you'd like." The elderly witch reminded them kindly.

"Thank you." Hermione and Dean replied at the same time. With a jerk of her wand, Hermione apparated them to the Quidditch Pitch. It was partially reconstructed, and the sight alone gave her some hope.

Dean kept her hand tightly in his own as she led him towards a partially constructed, wooden structure. He saw some witches and wizards sending boards into place, and magically securing them. No matter how much magic he'd seen the night of the battle, he still wasn't used to seeing it used.

Hermione spotted Harry, Ginny, Ron and Hannah together at the far end of the pitch. Leading Dean, she walked carefully over to where they were. Harry was the first to see their approach.

"Hermione!" Harry called jovially.

"Harry!" Hermione replied, echoing his greeting.

When they reached the area where her friends were, she released Dean's hand and moved to embrace each of them.

"You look great." Ginny commented happily.

"Thank you, so do you!" Hermione replied, smiling at her friend after their embrace.

Hermione moved on to Ron, who was happy to see his friend. "Glad you finally listened?" He asked sarcastically.

"Don't be a git." Hermione replied with a wry grin.

Moving on, she embraced Ron's girlfriend, Hannah. "You look so happy, and so does he." She whispered in Hermione's ear kindly.

"I am." Hermione whispered back.

She pulled out of the embrace and looked at her friends. "So, what brings you to Hogwarts?" Harry asked.

"We just came from Luna's." Hermione replied.

"How's my niece or nephew?" Ginny asked excitedly.

"Fine, she says the baby is healthy, and apparently being huge means I'm measuring where I'm supposed to be." Hermione replied. Dean poked her in a spot he'd discovered was ticklish 28 weeks prior.

"You're not huge." Hannah informed Hermione sternly.

"Thank you." Dean replied, glad for the witch's interference.

"You're welcome Dean. By the way, we haven't formally met, but I'm Hannah Abbott. I'm dating Ron." Hannah told Dean.

"Nice to meet you." Dean replied politely.

"We decided after the appointment to come visit the school so we can tell you the news." Hermione went on.

"What news?" Ron asked.

"We found out what we're having."

"Yay!" Ginny and Hannah exclaimed.

"So?" Harry asked, smirking.

"Baby Winchester, is a baby girl." Hermione said quickly.

Hermione's friends responded happily, coming to stand around her. Hugs were exchanged, and the girls cooed over the baby bump. What confused Hermione was when Harry looked at Ginny and said: "pay up."

"Bloody know it all." Ginny muttered, pulling coins from her pocket to slap into Harry's open and outstretched hand.

"Anybody care to explain?" Hermione asked, arching an amused brow at the couple.

"Harry and I bet on the gender. I figured it'd be a boy, because hello, one look at Dean, and he's a manly man." Ginny replied, as Harry was too busy counting the coins in his palm. "Harry picked a girl because, well, I don't know why. Sweetie, why did you put money on baby Winchester being a girl?"

"Because it's Hermione." Harry replied.

"It's not like I had anything to do with it!" Hermione exclaimed with a laugh.

Everyone was amused at the turn this conversation had taken. "What's that supposed to mean?" Harry asked.

"It means, Dean's responsible for that half of the baby's DNA." Hermione explained.

"Wait, what?" Dean burst out.

"Sorry Dean." Hermione placated, kissing him quickly on the cheek.

Ron had been strangely quiet through the whole exchange. Hermione looked to see him standing with his mouth open. Hannah winked at her, then said loudly, "what's wrong Uncle Ronnie?"

Ron snapped out of his shock and glared at his girlfriend. "Uncle Ronnie?" He asked her.

"I think that sounds fantastic." Hermione agreed with Hannah.

"Uncle Ronnie. Yes, that suits him quite brilliantly." Ginny also agreed.

"If he's Uncle Ronnie, I'm Uncle Harry." Harry interjected.

"Of course, you're Uncle Harry, he's Uncle Ronnie. Not to mention his Aunt Ginny and Auntie Hannah." Hermione replied.

Everyone was happy with their titles. Dean didn't say a lot, content to listen to the banter between Hermione and her friends. This is what he'd missed in life growing up as he and Sam had, however for the first time, he had the chance to. He resolved to think more seriously about the offer Minerva had made to him and Hermione.


	15. Dear Daughter

**Author's Notes: Outside of baby girl Winchester, I don't own any of the other characters.  
**

 **Chapter Inspiration: Dear Daughter by Halestorm**

* * *

 **Chapter 15**

After a long day visiting with Hermione's friends at Hogwarts, the couple apparated back to Bobby's. Hermione was beginning to feel overtired, though that was a natural state for her now. Once their feet had hit the ground in the driveway, she pocketed her wand and leaned into Dean's arm. He was warm and solid next to her.

"You okay?" Dean asked gently, letting go of her hand so he could wrap an arm around her waist.

"Yeah, just tired." Hermione replied with a yawn.

"Good news, only two people left to tell, then you can go rest." Dean told her, kissing the top of her head.

"Hooray. Your daughter takes up a lot of my energy." Hermione quipped through a yawn.

"Well then, she's definitely a Winchester." Dean replied smiling. It was the first time he'd referred to the baby in a way that connected it to him. When he'd heard Hermione use the term 'baby Winchester' at Hogwarts, it'd actually made him happy.

Hermione tilted her head so she was looking Dean in the eyes. She smiled at his use of his last name in relation to the baby. It was a tangible declaration of the baby being his. Dean returned her tender smile. "Let's get this over with?" She asked giving him an out to the moment that was nearing chick flick proportions.

"Yes, let's." Dean replied, walking with her towards the house. The Impala and Bobby's Chevelle were parked in the driveway, so they knew neither Sam nor Bobby were out on a hunt. They entered the house and yelled out a hello in greeting.

"In the study!" Bobby called. Dean and Hermione shared another smile, before walking back towards the study.

"So what's the verdict?" Sam asked, turning in his chair to watch the couple's approach.

"Really?" Dean asked. "Could you geek out any harder?"

"Hey now, this is a big deal, Dean." Bobby defended the younger Winchester. Hermione just giggled.

Dean rolled his eyes. "Fine, fine, baby Winchester is a…" Dean let the sentence trail off at the expectant expressions on both Bobby's and Sam's faces.

Hermione shot him an aggravated look. "If you don't tell them in the next 10 seconds, I will."

"I like her." Sam announced.

"Thank you, Sam." Hermione said, patting him on the shoulder gently.

"Are you done being an idjit?" Bobby asked Dean pointedly.

"It's a girl." Dean said finally.

Sam jumped up from the chair and embraced Hermione. He actually lifted her from the floor, and was about to spin her around, when Dean yelled at him to be careful with her. Sam gently set her back on her feet, blushing. Bobby however, surprised them both when he opened his desk drawer. A flash of pink material flew through the air, and Hermione caught it. She spread it out to reveal a little pink, plaid shirt.

"Bobby? How in the world?" Hermione asked, her eyes filling with happy tears.

"Yeah, how did you know?" Dean asked.

"I didn't, so I bought one in pink, and one in blue." Bobby replied.

Hermione walked around the desk to embrace the older, gruff hunter. "Thank you, you old softie." She whispered in his ear, so as not to embarrass him.

"It's a family necessity." Bobby whispered back.

While Hermione thanked Bobby, Sam congratulated Dean with a slap on the back.

"You realize this changes things?" Sam asked quietly.

"Yeah, I know." Dean replied.

"I know you know. Dean, this is not one of those things you blow off." Sam said softly, so Hermione wouldn't hear him.

"Sam…" Dean warned.

"I'm just trying to look out for you." Sam explained.

"I know. Things have changed for me. I just don't know what I'm going to do." It was all Dean was willing to tell his younger sibling.

"Okay." Sam replied, he knew what Dean had just told him was all the young father would share. He saw the way it was meant to shut down the conversation. Luckily for his brother, Hermione chose that moment to break away from Bobby to return to Dean's side.

"I think I'm going to go nap now." She told him softly.

"You do that. I'm going to stay here with Sam and Bobby." Dean replied.

"Okay." Hermione said, walking up to the bedroom. Once the bedroom door closed, Dean took a seat in the study.

"What's going on in the wonderful world of hunting?" Dean asked.

"Lots of mysterious deaths. Not sure what to make of them." Bobby replied, leaning back in his chair.

"So?" Dean asked.

"Bobby and I leave in the morning." Sam informed Dean.

"Excuse me?" The elder Winchester asked.

"You're staying, we're going." Bobby backed Sam up.

"Have you two lost your minds? Sam and I should be doing this!" Dean insisted.

"No, you're the one who's lost his mind. You're needed here." Sam replied heatedly.

"I'm needed here, and out there." Dean said.

"Yeah, it's bad out there. I ain't going to lie to you, idjit. However, you have two highly vulnerable females upstairs that have to be your priority now." Bobby lectured. "They need you here with them, more than the world needs you to be fighting monsters."

"But…" Dean started to protest.

"No, no buts. You protect your family, and let Sam and I handle the big bads in the world." Bobby cut him off.

"So, you're benching me?" Dean asked. He was already at war with himself, and this situation was not helping that. Half of him wanted to just let Bobby and Sam take off while he stayed, and the other half wasn't happy about staying out of the hunt.

"Dean…" Sam's voice interjected. "Don't make the same mistakes dad made."

"Sam, not helpful." Dean warned.

"I'm just saying. How do you raise a child, being a hunter, without turning into dad?" Sam asked logically.

"This isn't about dad!" Dean growled.

"I'm not saying this is about dad, this is about you." Sam defended.

"So you're saying I'm going to turn into dad if I continue to hunt?" Dean was on the defensive.

"No! I'm saying you're better than our upbringing." Sam defended his position.

"Idjits, enough!" Bobby scolded both brothers. "Dean, you're not John. You have the opportunity to be the father he wasn't. That's all Sam is trying to say, even if he is doing a piss poor job of it." Bobby scowled at Sam.

"Exactly!" Sam exclaimed.

"I'm not done." Bobby went on, cutting Sam off with a sharp look in his direction. "Dean, giving up the hunt isn't easy, it's what you were raised to do. Have you considered that perhaps you are at the point now, where reassessing your priorities is a good idea? Maybe that's what you should be doing while Sam and I deal with this hunt."

"Fine, I'll stay, but I'm not happy about it." Dean sulked.

"Don't you dare take it out on that poor girl upstairs. You hear me? Any shit and I'll box your ears into next Sunday." Bobby warned, a finger jabbing the air between him and Dean.

"Wasn't planning on it." Dean crossed his arms over his chest.

"Good." Bobby replied.

Dean turned his head to look out the now replaced window. The sun was just starting to sink below the horizon, casting a deep golden glow across the salvage yard. He decided joining Hermione in the bedroom upstairs was preferable to continuing the tense exchange between him, his brother, and Bobby. Standing, he made his way up the stairs, the familiar weight of responsibility pressing in on him once again. Turning the knob, he swung the door open gently. He stopped in the doorway for a moment to take in the sight before him. Hermione was laying on her left side, arm draped protectively around her belly, sound asleep. Her brown hair fanned out behind her on the pillow, and her shoulders moving evenly with every breath.

Dean took a step into the room, then swung the door closed behind him. He then moved to the opposite side of the makeshift double bed, where he sat and removed his boots. Once he had done that, he positioned himself slowly behind Hermione, draping an arm around her. He pressed his hand flat over their daughter, and was rewarded with a swift kick that pressed against his palm. He gently pressed back, and a bevy of kicks to the same spot followed. Dean smiled, she was sure a feisty one, if her kicks were any indication. Feeling that Hermione's breathing was still deep, and even, Dean allowed himself the largest of chick flick moments.

"Hey sweetheart." He whispered. "You're really beating your momma up, aren't you?" It was completely irrational, he knew his daughter couldn't hear him, and Sam would be making fun of him if he knew what his older brother was doing, but he couldn't bring himself to care at the moment. "I can't imagine you kicking her is all that comfortable. At the risk of sounding super girly, no offense, I can't wait to meet you, and I know I'm not the only one. You've got your momma, Uncle Sam, Granddad Bobby, Uncle Harry, Aunt Ginny, Uncle Ron, Aunt Hannah, and Granny Minerva all excited to meet you too. Granddad Bobby even bought you a shirt so you'll immediately fit into the family. It's pink, but it's plaid, which is a Winchester necessity. Someday when you're old enough, you can call Uncle Sam, Sammy or Samantha. Don't worry, he won't get mad at you for it, he'll be mad at me for teaching you that. But you know something, sweetheart? It'll be worth it!"

Dean stopped himself thinking about Sam cornering him someday after being called Uncle Sammy or Uncle Samantha. He had to stifle a laugh picturing the situation. He laid behind Hermione, arm around her turning things over in his mind: the job offer from Minerva, the strong desire he felt to hunt, the horrifying possibility that he could become just like his father, and Bobby's reassurance from the beginning that he wasn't his father. Sam's question was also bouncing around inside his head: _'how do you raise a child, being a hunter, without turning into dad?'_ He had no answer for the question Sam had asked. In fact, the half of him that was encouraging him to take Hermione and his daughter to England, and take the job offer at Hogwarts, was screaming at him that if he did continue to hunt with a child, that he would turn into John Winchester. The thought sent a chill down Dean's spine. He'd seen where that kind of parenting could lead when Sam had walked away. That night was a more emotional event than he was still willing to admit to. The closest he'd ever come to revealing how much Sam had hurt him was when they'd died and had to escape heaven.

Hermione shifted a little in her sleep jerking Dean from his troubled thoughts. He was pretty sure he loved Hermione, but he couldn't say the words. He had been pretty sure six months prior too, not that he'd told her then either. Somehow, despite not knowing how he felt, she still turned down a bright future to take a chance on him. Guilt gnawed at him because he still wanted to hunt. The feeling of being stuck settled in on Dean, pressing around him on all sides.

 _Damned if I do, damned if I don't._ Dean thought to himself.

Exhaling a large breath, Dean settled in and closed his eyes. He was hoping for a respite from the issues plaguing his mind. Unfortunately for him, a meddling angel by the name of Balthazar had other plans.


	16. Monster

**Author's Notes: Spoiler alert for My Heart Will Go On. I don't own the characters still.  
**

 **Chapter Inspiration: Monster by Starset**

* * *

 **Chapter 16**

Dean came conscious slowly in his bed. Reaching out an arm, he felt for Hermione, but her side of the bed was empty, and cold. He rubbed the sleep from his eyes and looked, her side of the bed was still made. As it always had been since… Rolling to his side, he missed seeing Bobby and Sam standing in the doorway, mouthing to each other, however, he could still feel their presence. He reached down to grab the bottle of whiskey that was sitting open on the floor. Dean lifted up his head long enough to down a swig before returning it, and him to their original positions.

"You two just going to stand there like the ugly girl at the prom, or are you going to leave me alone?" Dean venomously shot at his brother and father figure. "That so-called Eve, Mother of whatever, isn't going to gank herself."

"Dean, you haven't left that bed in days." Sam observed.

"I have too." Dean shot back.

"Getting up long enough to get another bottle of whiskey doesn't count, son." Bobby interjected.

"What are you? My dead wife?" Dean asked bitterly.

"Look Dean, it was tough for all of us, seeing Hermione go like that." Sam said softly.

Dean sat up quickly and glared at Sam and Bobby. "This isn't about Hermione!"

"Dean, she wasn't just one of your flings. She was your wife! Your pregnant wife, I might add." Sam reminded him gently.

"You know when I knew Hermione and the baby were done for? The day Hermione and I met, the day she got pregnant, and the day we married." Dean replied heatedly, placing the blame for Hermione's and his unborn daughter's deaths solely on him. "The only question: who was first, her or I. Now, do you want to stand there and therapize, or you want to get me some coffee? Make it Irish."

Dean laid back down on his bed as Sam and Bobby looked at each other. They'd seen Dean take a lot of personal hits and losses over the years, but none had incapacitated the hunter quite like this. Sam was lost as to how to handle his older brother. This was uncharted territory he was in. He and Bobby moved down the hall a little before Sam brought it up again in a whisper.

"What do you want to do? I mean, we can't just sit here and watch him destroy his liver."

"Well, we could try and get him out of the house. There's a job." Bobby commented.

"Really?" Sam asked. It was the first he'd heard of anything resembling a job. "What've you got?"

Bobby pulled a sheet of paper from the front pocket of his flannel. "Look: Chester, Pennsylvania, three people got kicked off in the last week. All freaky. The last guy got karate chopped by his garage door, and these are all blood relatives."

"So, what are you thinking? Family curse?" Sam speculated. Sam watched Dean head for the bathroom out of the corner of his eye. Maybe it wouldn't take much convincing to get Dean to go on this case.

"Could be." Bobby replied. "Hey grumpy!" He addressed the grumpy hunter trying to sneak his way into the bathroom.

"I don't want to do crap. Leave me alone. Just go take care of the job, both of you. You're driving me nuts." Dean grumbled, still making a beeline for the bathroom, albeit sluggishly.

"Dean!" Sam admonished.

"Now!" Dean insisted to a wide-eyed Bobby and Sam.

"You know you won't get any peace when she gets back, don't you?" Bobby warned.

"At least I'll have some peace before that happens." Dean quipped from behind the now closed bathroom door.

Sam rolled his eyes, and Bobby scratched the back of his neck. The job needed working, and Dean needed help getting back to being functional again. Deciding to leave it in more capable hands than theirs, the two functional hunters in the house headed off to pack. Once they were no longer hovering outside of the bathroom door, Dean snuck back into the bedroom, shutting the door, and retaking his spot in the double bed. He took two swigs off the whiskey bottle this time before pulling the covers over his head, and falling back to sleep.

While Dean was passed out once again, Bobby and Sam loaded up to get on the road. Their conversation turned to Dean once more.

"You know, maybe we should just wait until she gets back." Sam suggested. Bobby looked at him and cocked an eyebrow.

"Sam, she just called from the road, said she'd be here in two shakes. Do you really want to sit around and smell him stew in his own juices?" Bobby questioned.

"Yeah, yeah, point made." Sam agreed. With one last glance at the house, Bobby and Sam pulled out of the driveway.

It was a couple of hours after Bobby and Sam had left, when Dean woke up, head pounding. He groaned, rolling out of bed. Braving the cold floor, he padded down the hall, making a quick stop in the bathroom, before making his way to the kitchen. His whiskey bottle was empty, and he wanted a new one. Wandering over to a glass cupboard, he could see his prize. Before he could reach it though, the cold barrel of a gun was pressed sideways across his stomach.

"What the-?" Dean started before looking to see who was stopping him with a shotgun. His eyes met Ellen's.

"Tell me you haven't been drinking this whole time." She challenged with a maternal glare.

"You're worse than your husband and Sam." Dean complained, bringing his left hand up to stare dejectedly at the white gold band still resting on his ring finger. "I've been sleeping too."

"My God, I'm gone a week, and this place goes completely to hell. What is wrong with you Dean Winchester?" His mother figure asked.

"Get a pen, it's a long list." Dean quipped once she'd placed the shotgun down on a table nearby.

"You smell like a dumpster outside the Liquor Barn, you know that?" Ellen asked the elder Winchester.

"You don't exactly smell like a rose yourself." Dean shot back, coming to stand next to her.

"Yeah, I've been hunting with Jo. What's your excuse?" Ellen quipped.

"Well, if I need one, I've got a good one." Dean mumbled in reply.

"I know, and I'm so sorry. She was a great girl, and she meant a lot to me too." Ellen sympathized with the hurting man. She knew what it was like to lose a spouse to a monster. They allowed themselves a moment to commiserate together, before she shooed him off to take a shower while she cooked some food. Bobby was right, his peace was over.

Dean showered relatively quickly, stepped out and redressed in the same manner. He was coming out of the bathroom when he heard his cell ringing from the bedroom. Making his way to the bedside table, he saw that it was Sam calling.

"What's up?" Dean answered, taking the phone and making his way back downstairs.

"You're awake." Sam sounded surprised.

"Yeah. What do you want?" Dean asked.

"Ellen back?" Sam inquired, wanting to ask Ellen instead of Dean. It was his way of giving his brother some space and time to heal.

"Yeah, why?" Dean replied.

"Can you put her on?" Sam countered as if Dean should have known the answer to the question.

"Whatever." Dean sighed, carrying his cell to Ellen.

"What?" She asked, looking from the phone to Dean's face.

"Sam wants to talk to you." Dean said, his tone closed off.

She took the phone from Dean's outstretched arm and asked him to get something for her before greeting the younger Winchester. Dean's volume was turned up, so he could hear both sides of the conversation.

"So, found another piece of this shiny string." Sam informed her.

"Ah, I was afraid of that." Ellen replied, stirring something in a pot on the stove.

"Why? What's up?" Sam asked her.

"Well, these so called 'accidents', we're seeing them nationwide. About 75 so far. I've got Jo and her crew working on a cluster in California." Ellen responded, taking the beer Dean had been trying to sneak, away from him, much to his irritation.

"Blood relatives?" Sam asked, wondering if there were more similarities to all the accidents.

"Some yeah, and some, no. She's got about what you do, a pile of bodies, and a whole bunch of gold thread." Ellen replied honestly.

"So, what's it mean?" Sam wondered.

"I don't know." Ellen replied. She wished she did have something that could help. "I've got Dean working on it right now."

"You do?" Dean asked indignantly.

"Yes, now get!" Ellen said firmly.

"How's he doing by the way?" Sam was still concerned at Dean's state of being.

"Oh, don't worry. I'm kicking his ass back to health at least." Ellen assured Sam, eyeing Dean's posture as he wandered from the kitchen. He stopped and turned at her words.

"Who asked you to? To hell with you." Dean quipped, exiting the kitchen completely.

"I heard that." Sam commented.

"He'll be okay, eventually." Ellen assured Sam, gently.

Dean tuned out the rest of the conversation as he turned over what little he knew about the case. He knew he was deep in the hole if he didn't even care that he'd been put on research duty. Hell, he was considering just doing research from here on out. Either that, or he would be voluntarily sacrificing himself on a hunt just to be with his wife and daughter. The thought had him absently turning his wedding band around his finger again, like he had since the day she'd slid it on his finger. Shaking off the painful thoughts and memories vying for his attention, he walked into Bobby's study and began to bury himself in books.

While Dean was researching, and being mothered by Ellen, Bobby and Sam were holed up in a motel room researching some information Ellen had nabbed for Jo's job. The only connection to the victims, was a boat that had made a trip through the north Atlantic Ocean. There seemed to be nothing notable about the Titanic, outside of the fact that it had almost hit an iceberg. A fact Sam relayed to Bobby.

"Almost hit an iceberg?" Bobby asked.

"Looks like the first mate spotted it just in time." Sam commented, reading the words in the article.

"Good for him. There anything else?" Bobby asked, looking back to the papers he had spread out in front of him.

"Wait a second." Sam said suspiciously.

"What?" Bobby asked, looking back at Sam. This could not mean anything good.

"Uh, this first mate? Mr. I. P. Freely." Sam informed Bobby.

"Well that's not suspicious. You find a picture of old Freely?" Bobby inquired, moving so he could see the computer screen from over Sam's shoulder.

Sam scrolled down the web article until he reached a picture of Titanic's crew. Sitting in a chair in the front row, was a very familiar face. "You've got to be kidding me." Sam commented, understanding dawning on him.

"What?" Bobby asked, confused.

Sam clicked to enlarge the picture. "Balthazar."

"Who?" Bobby asked.

"Angel buddy of Cas's. He's rather shifty if you ask me." Sam commented sitting back in his chair.

"We got to summon him, find out why." Bobby commented.

Sam agreed, and they got to work. When they finally worked the spell, the angel appeared in the room with them.

"What ever can I do for you?" The angel asked sarcastically.

"We need to talk." Bobby said.

"You seem upset, Singer." Balthazar replied.

"The hell with the boat?" Questioned Bobby.

"What boat?" Balthazar countered.

"The Titanic." Sam reminded the angel forcefully.

"Oh, yeah, the Titanic. Yes, well, it was meant to sink, and I saved it." Balthazar informed them of the obvious.

"What?" Sam questioned.

"Well, it was meant to bash into this iceberg thing, and plunge into the briny deep with all this hoopla, and I saved it." Balthazar replied. "Anything else I can answer for you?"

"Why?" Sam asked.

"Why what?" Balthazar countered again.

"Why did you unsink the ship?" Bobby clarified.

"Oh, because I hated the movie." The angel complained.

"What movie?" Bobby asked, confused.

"Exactly!" Balthazar laughed it off.

"Wait, so you saved a cruise liner, because..." Sam's sentence trailed off, and the shifty angel cut right in to finish the thought.

"Because that God-awful Celine Dion song made me want to smite myself."

"Who's Celine Dion?" Sam asked.

"Oh, she's some destitute lounge singer somewhere in Quebec, and let's keep it that way, please." Balthazar replied.

"I thought you couldn't change history." Sam challenged.

"Haven't you noticed? There's no more rules guys." Balthazar replied calmly.

Sam scoffed while Bobby processed the weight of that statement. "Wow, the nerve on you. So, you what? Unsunk a giant boat?"

"Oh come on, I saved people. I thought you loved that kind of thing?" Balthazar defended.

"Yeah, but now those people, and their kids, and their kid's kids. They must have interacted with so many other people, changed so much crap. You've totally 'butterfly effected' history.

Bobby looked at Sam questioningly. "It's a movie with Ashton Kutcher." Sam explained as an aside.

"Ah yes, unfortunately there is still an Ashton Kutcher, and you still averted the apocalypse, and there are still archangels. It's just the small details that are different. Like, Dean doesn't drive an Impala." At Sam's and Bobby's confused looks, Balthazar went on. "Yes, yes, what's an Impala? Trust me, it's not important. And of course, Ellen and Jo are alive, and Dean did get married to Hermione. Unfortunate hers and the baby's deaths."

"Ellen and Jo, what?" Bobby questioned, a sick feeling gripping his stomach.

"Yes, they're supposed to be dead. You see, I save a boat, one thing leads to another, which leads to another thousand things, and yadda, yadda, yadda. To cut a long story short, they don't die in a massive explosion. Anyway, let's agree, I did a good thing." Balthazar monologued to a horrified Bobby and Sam. In short, what the angel was saying was that because of one little event, Dean's wife and child died, but Bobby's wife and her adult daughter got to live. What a catch-22, and how ever were they going to get out of this one?


	17. Don't Make Me

**Author's Note: Continued spoiler alert for My Heart Will Go On. I don't own any characters with the exception of baby Winchester and Isadore the demon. I created her myself. Major feels ahead!  
**

 **Chapter Inspiration: Don't Make Me by Blake Shelton**

* * *

 **Chapter 17**

While Bobby and Sam were digesting the information, Balthazar had revealed with incredible amounts of horror, the shifty angel continued to lay out his explanation for not allowing the Titanic to sink.

"One less Billy Zane movie, and I saved two of your closest friends."

"But now, somebody is killing the descendants of the survivors." Sam explained, avoiding the conundrum Balthazar had created.

"And?" Balthazar seemed completely blasé about the fact. It was if he didn't care that people were dying, that people had died because of his actions.

"And, that's like, 50,000 people." Sam supplied.

"And?" Balthazar questioned again, confused as to where Sam and Bobby were going with their little speech.

"And, we need to save as many as we can, but we need to know who's after them." Bobby explained.

"Oh, sorry, you have me confused with the other angel. You know, the one in the dirty trench coat who's in love with Dean?" Balthazar shrugged it off on Castiel. "I don't care." With that Balthazar laughed. It astounded Bobby and Sam how an angel could be so careless sometimes. It wasn't something they were used to. "Goodbye gents."

Balthazar flew off, leaving Bobby and Sam standing in an otherwise empty motel room. They had a huge conundrum on their hands, and people to save. This job sucked.

"What do we do now?" Sam wondered.

"We have to tell Dean." Bobby said as if it's the most obvious thing in the world.

"Sure, tell him that Balthazar hated the movie so much, he prevented the Titanic from sinking, making it so his wife and unborn daughter died so Ellen and Jo could live? That's a recipe for disaster." Sam commented. "You know what he's going to say to that. He's going to demand that the boat be sunk, and your wife and step-daughter will die."

"What other option do we have here, Sam? We need to know who's after these people to save them." Bobby pointed out.

"Fine." Sam resigned. Taking a seat on each bed facing each other, Sam dialed Dean's cell phone and waited.

When the call connected, Dean was sitting in Bobby's study, books spread out around him. Ellen had forced him to eat, and was actively keeping him away from any of the alcohol Bobby had stashed. It was making him grumpy.

"What?" He answered the phone sharply.

"Hey, we caught a break. We know more of what the situation is. Hopefully knowing what's going on will give us a hint at who's behind the accidents." Sam led.

"Okay?" Dean asked impatiently.

"Balthazar." Bobby said.

"What about that dick?" Dean was irritated at the mention of the angel.

"That boat all the victims' families came over on? It was supposed to sink, but Balthazar prevented it because he apparently 'hated the movie.'" Sam explained.

"So, Balthazar unsank a boat, and now we have a boat load of people who should have never been born." Dean summarized, leaning back in the chair as he digested the information.

"Yeah." Sam confirmed. "Like 50,000."

"That makes sense." Dean commented, remembering a possibility he'd found a few books ago.

"How does any of this make sense?" Sam questioned.

"I'm surprised Bobby hasn't figured it out yet, but I have an idea who you're up against." Dean said, rubbing his hand down his face tiredly. All he wanted to do is go back to bed and wallow.

"What?" Bobby asked.

"Fate." Dean replied. When there was silence coming from the other end of the phone, Dean went on to explain. "I mean like 'the fates,' or, one of them at least."

"You mean like Greek mythology? Like the sisters?" Bobby asked for clarification. It made complete sense.

"Bingo, nerds. These ladies are responsible for how you go down, literally. So, if you get creamed by a garage door, or crunched by a copy machine, they're the ones who hammer out the details of how you die." Dean explained, paraphrasing from a book once again open in front of him on the desk. "They spin out your fate on a piece of pure gold."

"Gold thread." Sam connected the dots.

"And then, one of them writes it all down in her day-runner of death. It's high level stuff, but anyway, it fits. Now that we know what Baltahzar did, seems to me that maybe fate is just trying to clean up the mess." Dean speculated.

"So, how do we stop it?" Sam asked.

"How do you stop fate? Good question." Dean replied.

"Well there's got to be some way, Dean." Bobby insisted, the idea of Ellen and Jo dying tugging at him.

"Or there isn't. I mean, this is fate we're talking about here." Dean pointed out. "You know, the easiest way would be to get that angel to re-sink the boat."

Sam looked to Bobby, and Bobby tensed. That was the last thing he wanted to do for personal reasons. "Is there any other way?" Bobby pressed.

"Not that I can find. There's a big difference in dying awful, and never having been born." Dean replied honestly.

"Bobby…" Sam warned.

"Sam, shut it." Bobby snapped.

"What's got your panties in a clench, Bobby?" Dean asked, hearing the older hunter snap at his brother.

"Nothing." Bobby replied grumpily.

"Try that again." Dean challenged.

"Look, apparently, a crap load of dominoes get tipped over if the Titanic goes down. Bottom line, Ellen and Jo die, but Hermione and the baby live." Sam explained.

Dean felt like he'd been punched in the stomach. As much as he cared about Ellen and Jo though, he knew what needed to happen. "Listen, you summon Balthazar and force him to sink that boat, you hear me?" Dean snapped, looking down at his wedding ring once again. "I don't care what you have to do, just get him to sink the damn thing, you understand me?"

"Dean…" Bobby started to argue before Sam cut in.

"Dean, we'll figure this out. We understand you." Sam said.

Dean didn't acknowledge either when he ended the call. He would get his wife back if it's the last thing he did. He went to the kitchen to hug Ellen one last time.

"Thanks for the grub." He told her.

"You're welcome kiddo. You figure out what everyone's up against?" Ellen asked, returning to the dishes she was cleaning.

"No, no I haven't." Dean lied. "My eyes are so weary though they're going crossed. Just going to go grab a few winks before I get back at it."

"Go on up, get some real rest." Ellen smiled maternally back at him.

Smiling, Dean made his way upstairs and back to bed. He was trusting Sam and Bobby to get the Titanic re-sunk so when he woke, he'd be beside his wife again. Unfortunately, Castiel decided to gate crash his head.

"Where are we?" Dean asked, looking around at the unfamiliar scenery in his dream state.

"Russia." Castiel replied.

"Are you aware of what your frat bro did?" Dean asked his angel friend angrily.

"I'm aware. Balthazar can be, impetuous." Castiel remarked.

"Well, riddle me this, why does Hermione and my daughter have to die in order for Ellen and Jo to live, huh?" Dean questioned.

"I imagine fate harbors a certain degree of rage toward you." Castiel replied in his usual monotone.

"What'd I ever do to her?" Dean questioned.

"Nothing of import, just the tiny matter of averting the apocalypse, and rendering her obsolete." Castiel informed Dean.

"Then why hasn't she gone after Sam too? I wasn't alone in stopping the apocalypse." Dean reasoned.

"She has, I saved him and Bobby." Castiel assured Dean.

"Then why didn't you save my wife and child from that demon?" Dean's voice went cold with the knowledge that Cas had saved Sam and Bobby, but not Hermione.

"Dean…" Castiel started, but got cut off by a beyond angry widower.

"No Cas, because of your brother, my girls are dead! No, wait, this is on you and your brother!" Dean exploded at the angel. "I've been surviving on the fact that I couldn't save them, and that's bad enough, but to know it is a direct result of Balthazar, and now you? How? How could you do this?"

"Dean, there are more important things for me to worry about." Castiel informed Dean sternly.

"Oh yeah, Raphael and the war in heaven. You better hope you win that war, because if you don't, and my loss is completely in vain, I'm coming after you, and Balthazar." Dean threatened, getting right in the angel's face.

A defiant, angry look overtook Castiel's usual impassiveness. He pressed two fingers to Dean's head, returning him to consciousness. Dean laid in the bed, hands pressed to his forehead, and tears in his eyes. He now had the knowledge that Castiel hadn't prevented the loss of his family. He hadn't even tried, and to make matters worse, that son of a bitch was supposed to be his friend. He could hear Ellen talking and pacing downstairs. He should be happy Bobby had her, but he couldn't help but feel overwhelmed by his loss.

He laid there for long minutes replaying happy memories of him and Hermione. The day they met, their first kiss, the first time he held her in his arms, the day he'd asked her to be his wife, their wedding, finding out she was pregnant, finding out the gender of the baby, and nights when they'd curl up laughing and talking while he felt their daughter kick his hand.

And then, his memories took a darker turn. Coming home from a hunt to find a note, it had been stuck to the front door with a knife. A demon named Isadore had kidnapped her because he'd exorcized her back to hell. He remembered how he, Sam, Bobby, Ellen, and Jo had all scoured every source they could find, how they worked tirelessly to find her. Unfortunately, when they did, she was already dead. They'd burst into the abandoned warehouse to find her bloody from multiple stab wounds. He saw at least a half dozen in her stomach and at least 3 in her chest. He was dragged out, kicking and screaming, by Sam, at Bobby's and Ellen's insistence. He remembered standing by her funeral pyre, traditional hunter burial, for hours. The only people there were his brother, Bobby, Ellen, and Jo. Castiel had never showed. He guessed he knew why now. He squeezed his eyes shut, and rolled over, praying for either sleep, or death.

Meanwhile, Castiel was locked in a discussion with Atropos, the fate responsible for the accidents. She was currently threatening Sam's and Dean's lives if he and Balthazar didn't go back and re-sink the ship. She'd taunted him with the fact that Dean's soul was basically begging her to kill him. She was happy about it, cruelly dangling it in front of Castiel knowing what he would choose, even if he felt it was wrong for more than one reason.

Dean startled awake to see bright sunlight streaming through the windows. He went to roll over, but his back hit another body. Whipping around, Dean saw Hermione was sound asleep in the space next to him. Relief poured through him at the sight of her. After the dream he'd had, he maneuvered himself so he could kiss her thoroughly. It took her a moment or two before kissing him back. Once he broke the kiss, he looked down at her tenderly.

"Not that I mind, but what was that for?" She asked, smiling up at him.

"Bad dream." He told her.

"I'm sorry. Shall I make us some breakfast? I'm starving." Hermione replied.

"Sounds good sweetheart." Dean replied before giving her another tender kiss.

She kissed him back before getting up, throwing on a robe, and making her way down the stairs. Alone again, Dean thought about the dream he'd had. Luckily, everything was different here than it was there. "Thank God it was just a dream." Dean whispered to himself.

"It wasn't a dream." Castiel matter-of-factly informed him from a corner of the room

"Geez Cas, a little warning might be nice." Dean replied. "Are you saying this actually happened? The whole, whatever, that was real?" It was like somebody poured ice water through his veins knowing he'd just experienced all of that for real.

"Yes." Castiel confirmed.

"So what happened?" He asked the angel.

"Well, I insisted he go back in time and correct what he'd done." Castiel replied. "It was the only way to make sure you were safe."

"What do you mean?" Dean asked.

"Fate threatened to kill you and Sam if the Titanic wasn't re-sunk." Castiel explained.

"So you killed 50,000 people?" Dean asked, that was very un-Cas-like.

"No I didn't. They were never born." Castiel justified. "That's far different from being killed, wouldn't you say?"

Dean tried very hard to wrap his brain around what Castiel was telling him. 50,000 people no longer existed, Hermione was alive and still pregnant, and… "Ellen and Jo?" He asked the angel.

"I'm sorry." Castiel said, after a moment of deliberation as to how to respond appropriately to the question posed to him.

"So, if you guys went and changed everything back, then that whole timeline, or whatever, just got erased?" Dean questioned, still unable to wrap his head around the situation.

"Yeah, more or less." Castiel replied.

"Well then, how come I remember it?" Dean asked.

"Because I wanted you to remember it." Castiel said cryptically.

"Well, that's helpful." Dean commented sarcastically. "Did Balthazar really unravel the sweater over a chick flick?" He couldn't help but feel like there might have been more to the story, but he was trusting that Cas would tell him if it weren't the case.

"Yes, absolutely. That's what he did." Castiel replied.

"Wow, well it's time somebody took away his cable privileges." Dean snarked. Before he could finish the thought though, he was alone in the room once again.


	18. Here Comes Goodbye

**Author's Note: References made to episode And Then There Were None. Still don't own any of the characters with the exception of baby Winchester.**

 **Chapter Inspiration: Here Comes Goodbye by Rascal Flatts**

* * *

 **Chapter 18**

For the next number of days, Bobby and Sam were out on a hunt involving a brand-new monster the "Mother of All" had created, leaving Dean with Hermione. Unfortunately for Hermione, he was a distant, almost downtrodden Dean. She'd caught him with a glass of whiskey in his hands a number of times, but never said anything. If he wanted to talk about whatever he was dwelling on, he'd do it on his own terms. Hermione contented herself with re-reading Bobby's lore books, curled up in Bobby's arm chair during the day, and while propped up in bed at night. When she wasn't reading, she was cooking or straightening things up for the elder hunter. She felt it was the least she could do.

On the third day Bobby and Sam were gone, Dean made the excuse that he needed to do an oil change on Baby. He spent the entire day in the salvage yard working on his car. He even cleaned her top to bottom, twice. It was nearing sunset when he tiredly made his way back to the house, the weight of everything crushing down on him. He felt restless not being on the hunt with Sam and Bobby, combine that with the grief he'd experienced in the alternate timeline Balthazar had created when Hermione and his daughter were dead because he'd been off hunting. It left him with a very sick feeling to his stomach. He felt trapped into making a decision he didn't want to make. A decision that would hurt everyone, himself included.

Wearily, he made his way up the front steps, pausing before he opened the front door. He absolutely hated what was coming next. Pushing the door open after a shaky breath, Dean entered Bobby's home, listening for a sign as to where in the house Hermione was, he was relieved when he heard her up in the bedroom. He climbed the stairs, wiping any trace of the pain he was feeling from his expression. By the time he reached the doorway to their bedroom, his heart was pounding.

"Hey you, get everything sorted with Baby?" She asked him, a gentle smile on her face. Despite his moodiness, she still greeted him with a smile. It left him feeling worse than he already did.

"Yeah, she's good to go." Dean commented roughly, clearing his throat to ease the tension setting in.

"That's good." Hermione replied, her smile growing, her eyes kind.

"We need to talk." Dean led with the most over used line, ever. It made him cringe internally.

Hermione froze, her hand instinctively going to her stomach. She'd watched enough crappy romance movies to know what that line was followed by. "What about?" She asked Dean trying to mask her panic.

"I can't do it." Dean started, picking a spot on the floor to stare at instead of looking at the woman he loved.

"Can't do what?" Hermione asked gently.

"I can't be a hunter and a father. I refuse to put my child through what my dad put me through." Dean pushed the words he didn't want to say out.

"So, what are you saying? You've got options, you know." Hermione replied, grasping at whatever she could to convince him not to do this to her, to them.

"I'm saying, I'm a hunter, and I can't do both." Dean said firmly. He hoped it didn't sound like he was trying to convince himself of that, even though he was.

"Dean…" Hermione gasped, her world starting to crumble beneath her.

"No, I've thought about this. I've spent a couple of days thinking actually. It's for the best." Dean tried for a tone of finality. He assumed it worked when he saw the tears streaking down her cheeks.

"You can't, or you won't?" Hermione asked, her tone suddenly going cold.

"Both." Dean replied simply.

Hermione nodded once, and cast her eyes to stare at the ceiling. "I guess we'll be going, again, then." She whispered.

Dean's heart broke a little more, though he found just enough resolve to say "I think that'd be best." He forced himself to turn from the room, and carry himself back down the stairs. Before he registered his actions, he'd grabbed a bottle of whiskey and ran out of the house as if it were on fire. Ten minutes later, the crack of her apparating away pierced the silence, and what was left of his heart. And for the first time since Sam had fallen into the pit, a tear streaked down the older Winchester brother's cheek.

London, England

Hermione apparated to the only place she wanted to go to. Her parents' house, even though it was no longer her family home. The tears were falling harder now, and she brushed them away as fast as she could while staring at the blurry outline of the house. Nothing about it had changed in any way, though the world around it had. Hermione made her way, with her duffle bag down the sidewalk, making for a magical bed and breakfast she knew of nearby. When she reached the door, the kindly proprietor granted her entrance, booking her into a room.

She took the stairs carefully, seeking the shelter of her new room. Once she got there, she let herself in, dropped her bag and wand in the middle of the floor, pulled back the covers on the large bed, and crawled in to lie down. Once she was horizontal, she pulled the covers over her head and bawled.

Sioux Falls, South Dakota

When Bobby and Sam returned to Singer Salvage in the morning of the fourth day they would have been gone, they returned to an oddly quiet house. Sam and Bobby looked questioningly at each other. Either the couple were still sleeping, or something bad had happened in their absence. Sam took the stairs, deciding he should be the one to investigate this development. He looked towards the bedroom Dean and Hermione had been sleeping in. The door was wide open, but the beds were different. Moving closer, he saw that the twin beds were no longer pushed together. He also saw his brother sitting on one with a bottle of whiskey propped between his knees.

"What happened here?" Sam asked.

"Go away Sam, that's what happened." Dean replied, his S's not pronounced as sharply as a sober person's would.

"Where's Hermione?" Sam asked curiously.

"She's gone." Dean replied.

"What do you mean gone?" Sam felt horror slowly crawling across his features. What had his self-sabotaging older brother done this time?

"I mean, I told her I can't be a father, and sent her home." Dean explained slowly, as if Sam were unable to comprehend. "Now go away."

"You did what now?" Sam really was horrified now.

"You heard me, I'm not saying it again. It's over, whatever _it_ , was." Dean replied, punctuating his statement with a generous swig from the bottle.

"Why?" Sam asked.

"I'm a hunter." Dean replied, as if it were the most obvious thing in the world.

"So?" Sam enquired, interested to know where Dean's head was at.

"It's like you said Sammy, I can't be a hunter and not turn into dad." Dean replied, a scoff following the mention of their father.

"Dude, that's not what I said!" Sam defended, mentally facepalming himself.

"It's what you meant." Dean shot back bitterly.

"What the hell brought this on? I asked you a question that was supposed to convince you to take the job in England!" Sam yelled, trying to beat some sense into the shell of his brother.

"Yeah well, I got a glimpse of what would happen to them if I stayed in the picture." Dean continued.

"What are you talking about, now?" Questioned Sam suspiciously.

"Balthazar, he temporarily altered history. Cas allowed me to remember what life was like in that world." Dean said quietly, before taking another drink from the whiskey bottle. Before Sam could interject, Dean continued: "They were dead, Sam. Hermione and the baby, killed by the demon Isadore, because of me. Hell, she was dead the minute I brought her back here from the cemetery."

"Wait, what cemetery?" Sam asked, not knowing that Dean had met Hermione in the cemetery where he'd dived into the cage with Michael and Lucifer.

"The day you belly flopped into the cage, that's the day I met Hermione." Dean explained simply.

"Oh." Sam replied. "Dean, Cas allowed me to remember the altered reality Balthazar created when he refused to re-sink the Titanic too."

Dean's eyes flashed to Sam. "What?"

"Yeah, he wanted me to remember who fate is. The only person here who has no memory of it is Bobby, and that's probably for the best." Sam explained.

"Figures." Dean scoffed.

"Dean, I remember how you were. I don't want to see you turn into the person that you were then. Just go to her, dude. You love her." Sam pressed.

"Sam, I'm not having this discussion with you. She's safer an ocean away from me, and my daughter is better off not having me as her father." Dean shut down completely. He was hiding behind his fears, willing to hurt others before he got hurt himself.

"You're being an idiot, Dean. You'd rather hurt others than risk yourself getting hurt!" Sam argued, attempting to press him into making a different choice.

"I'm doing this to keep them safe! Yeah, I hurt her, but it's better she be emotionally hurt than dead!" Dean exclaimed.

"You know what the road to Hell is paved with." Sam warned.

"You should know better than anyone." Dean shot back before another downing more alcohol.

"That was a cheap shot, and you know it." Sam admonished.

"Isn't there a job needing to be worked?" Dean asked, needing a distraction from his brother's meddling.

"Research actually, on how to kill said 'Mother of All.'" Sam replied. "Bobby and I were going to go raid Samuel Campbell's lock up."

"He'll shoot your ass." Dean mumbled, drunker than he had been when he started this exhausting conversation.

"He can't. He's dead." Sam replied.

"Can't say as I'm too broken up about it. Just sad I didn't get to do it myself." Dean commented.

"Yeah well, we're going to go raid his library. Sober up while we're gone, why don't you?" Sam suggested, returning to the ground floor where Bobby was sitting in his study.

"Hermione's owl is here, seems to be looking for her. There's no letter." Bobby informed Sam when he spotted the winged creature.

"Do you suppose her owl can find her friends? Maybe send a letter to them and explain she's probably back in England, and suggest they help the bird find her owner?" Sam replied.

"Yeah, that's actually not bad." Bobby commented, already grabbing a paper and a pen. He scrawled a hasty note, shoved it in an envelope, and addressed it to Harry Potter. The owl took off immediately in search of its addressee. "So why's she in England?"

Hogwarts  


Harry and Ginny had a rare off day, and were spending it with Ron and Hannah just spending time together. They were currently in the Gryffindoor common room, a fire roaring in the fireplace warming the space from the icy draft of late December. Ron was in the middle of telling a joke he learned from George, when Hermione's owl flew right to Harry and relinquished the letter in its beak to him. Taking the letter, Harry broke the seal and pulled the paper out. Unfolding it, he recognized that the letter had not been written by Hermione. A chill ran down his spine as he read Bobby's words:

 _Harry,_

 _Hermione's owl showed up here looking for her. Dean's probably gone and done something incredibly stupid. Sam says she's probably back in England. This was the only way I could think of to help the owl find her owner. Thanks, and be safe, all of you._

 _~Bobby S._

"Guys!" Harry exclaimed once he was done reading. "Hermione is back in England, but Athena can't find her!"

"What do you mean?" Ginny asked, her feet that had been draped across Harry's lap, swinging down so she was in a sitting position.

"I mean, Dean broke up with her, and she returned to England, but apparently not to Hogwarts." Harry deduced.

"So, where is she?" Ron asked, his face going red under the heat of his anger.

"We could always run a locator spell." Hannah suggested placing a calming hand on Ron's arm.

"Do it, the sooner we find her, the better." Harry said, standing and pacing.


	19. Beethoven's 5 Secrets

**Author's Note: It's a good thing I went back and started reading this from beginning to end! Otherwise I wouldn't have realized that I had not saved the authors note for this chapter. Spoiler alert ahead for The Man Who Would Be King with a reference made to Frontierland. As always, I don't own the characters save baby Winchester.**

 **Chapter Inspiration: Beethoven's 5 Secrets by The Piano Guys**

* * *

 **Chapter 19**

1 Month and 2 Weeks Later

Hermione was sitting in her charms classroom preparing a curriculum for the term starting the coming September. It was mundane work, one needed preparing for each grade year, but it kept her brain busy. As long as her brain was busy, it couldn't torture her with memories of a certain green-eyed hunter.

She was in her eighth month of pregnancy, and she was uncomfortable as all get out. She couldn't get comfortable standing, sitting, or laying down. Nights were awful for two reasons: the first, the nightmares she'd been having since Dean broke up with her, and the second, her daughter was most active during the night. Luna scolded her at every appointment about the importance of proper rest, and Hermione listened politely. She told Luna it was because of the baby's activity levels during the night, but she'd suspected her half-truth was seen for exactly what it was. Ginny and Hannah had offered her dreamless sleep draughts, but not knowing the side effects to the baby, she'd refused.

Hermione stifled a yawn behind her hand. She wanted to nap, and she knew no one would begrudge her one, but she was afraid to close her eyes. Getting up from her desk chair, she wandered through the row of desks, hoping movement would wake her up. When all it did was remind her of her djinn induced dream world, she wiped the unexpected tears from her cheeks, and returned to her desk. Looking out the window, she half expected to see her owl with a letter from the States, however, Athena wasn't there. Hermione had cut all communication, and that included to Bobby and Sam. Harry, she knew was in contact with them, but she couldn't bring herself to. She even refused to let Harry read their correspondence out loud.

Heaving a heavy sigh, Hermione shut her textbook choice, sliding it, and the parchment she'd been writing on, into a drawer of her desk. The lock clicked into place, and Hermione slowly rose. Walking carefully, with her new, more defined waddling abilities, she made her way from the classroom to her new professor's quarters. Minerva had graciously given her new rooms when Harry had dragged her heartbroken self, back to the school. She had been sympathetic when Hermione explained why she wanted new accommodations. Minerva had secured the new quarters, and even made sure that her rooms didn't require taking too many stairs. Something Hermione was very grateful for now.

When Hermione pushed the door open to enter the sitting room portion, she was startled to see a familiar blue-eyed angel, standing in the middle of the room. "Castiel?" Hermione asked.

"Hello Hermione." Castiel greeted.

"I thought it was too dangerous for you to transport into the magical world." Hermione observed, closing the door behind her, so that no one would overhear the odd conversation that was most likely to ensue.

"It is. I came to talk." Castiel explained.

"You risked your life to come talk to me?" Hermione asked, her brows pulling into a confused frown.

"Yes." The angel replied as if it were obvious.

Swallowing the lump in her throat, she allowed herself a moment of weakness. "How is he, Cas?" She asked.

"I fear he's a shell of his former self. He's actually the reason I'm here." Castiel replied.

"Very well, have a seat." Hermione offered, gesturing to the couch where she took a seat at one end. Her back was stiff as a board, worried about whatever it was his angel friend had to say.

"Thank you Hermione." He replied, taking a seat on the other end of the couch. "You know, I've been here for a very long time, I remember many things. I remember being at a shoreline, watching a little grey fish heave itself up on the beach, and an older brother saying: 'don't step on that fish, Castiel. Big plans for that fish.'"

"Castiel," Hermione interjected. "Are you telling me a story?"

"Yes, I need you to understand." Castiel explained.

"All right." Hermione acquiesced, gesturing with her hand for him to continue.

"I remember the tower of Babel, all 37 feet of it, which I suppose was impressive at the time. When it fell, they howled 'divine wrath!' But, come on, dry dung can only be stacked so high." Castiel went on. "I remember Cain and Abel, David and Goliath, Sodom and Gomorrah, and of course, I remember the most remarkable event. Remarkable, because it never came to pass. It was averted by two boys, an old drunk, and a fallen angel." Castiel's eyes locked onto Hermione's at his inference to the Winchester brothers and Bobby. "The grand story, and we ripped up the ending, and the rules, and destiny. Leaving nothing, but freedom, and choice. Which is all well and good, except, well, what if I've made the wrong choice?"

"What do you mean by the wrong choice?" Hermione interrupted. She was kind of becoming worried at where Castiel was going with his story.

"How am I supposed to know... I'm getting ahead of myself. Let me tell you my story. Let me tell you everything." Castiel went on as if he hadn't heard Hermione's question. "It starts in the Impala, I popped in on Dean to see if he knew anything about me, and my connection to someone named Crowley. The King of Hell, in fact."

"You know The King of Hell?" Hermione asked, worried.

"Yes, and anyway, I needed to know what he knew. He told me that he was on his way to help Sam on a hunt. Satisfied that he didn't know anything, I went to Crowley. He was torturing monsters. He was mad at Sam and Dean for killing Eve." Castiel replied.

"Who is Eve?" Hermione asked, trying to keep up with the story.

"She's considered the 'Mother of All,' she is the creator of the monsters that Sam, Dean, and Bobby hunt." Castiel explained.

"And they killed her?" Hermione wondered, mildly impressed if she were being truthful.

"Yes, with the ashes of a phoenix. I had to send them back in time for them to obtain the ashes." Castiel informed her, gauging any reaction. Hermione didn't disappoint, he saw her clench her hands into fists.

"Is that safe?" Hermione questioned.

"It wasn't the safest, with as far back as they had to go. If they'd stayed even a minute past 24 hours, they'd have been stuck forever." Castiel informed her.

"Lovely." Hermione commented, her heart hammering in fear. "Go on."

"Because Sam and Dean killed Eve, Crowley was murderously mad. He threatened to quote 'tear their hearts out.' He accused me of all sorts of things too, underestimating the Winchesters, and having a conflict of interest. Crowley had a point, of course. My interest was conflicted. I still considered myself the Winchesters guardian. After all, they taught me how to stand up, what to stand for, and what generally happens to you when you do."

"How do you mean?" Hermione asked for clarification purposes.

"The cemetery, standing up to Michael with Holy Fire." The angel reminded her.

"That was you! You're the one who exploded!" Hermione connected the dots immediately. Her hands flew to her mouth that had dropped open in shock.

"I was done, I was over, and then the most extraordinary thing happened: I was put back." Castiel acknowledged her intelligence with a nod. "And we had won. We stopped Armageddon, but at a terrible cost. And so, I knew what I had to do next. Once again, I went to harrow Hell, to free Sam from Lucifer's cage. It was nearly impossible, but I was so full of confidence of mission."

"You rescued Sam from Hell?" Hermione asked.

"Yes, I see now, that was arrogance, hubris. Because of course, I hadn't truly raised Sam, well, not all of him." The humbled angel replied.

"Okay, now what's that supposed to mean?" Hermione questioned.

"You mean Dean never told you?" Castiel countered.

"Tell me what? I found out Sam was back when I showed up on Bobby's doorstep 2 months ago!" Hermione replied.

"I raised Sam physically from Lucifer's cage, but his soul got left behind. Dean made a deal with Death to get it back. Even though he failed Death's wager to be him for a day, Death still returned Sam's soul, and even put up a wall so the damage inflicted to it by Michael and Lucifer wouldn't kill him." Castiel explained.

"So that's why he played Death." Hermione commented, more to herself than him. She'd always wondered why he'd do something foolish like that, but now it all made sense.

"Yes, well, sometimes we're lucky enough to be given a warning, this should have been mine. After Crowley ranted about killing the Winchesters, even trying to tell me I should kill them myself, I went and am ashamed to say, I spied on them. When Dean returned to Bobby's, he told him that he'd lied to me, even though it felt wrong for him to do so. Sam and Bobby though, they already suspected, and the worst part was Dean, trying so hard to be loyal, with every instinct telling him otherwise."

"At least he's loyal to someone." Hermione muttered. Castiel caught what she'd said, whether he was meant to or not. He was determined to help mend something he felt responsible for breaking.

"As I said Hermione, he's a shell of himself. I watched him, invisible. He tortured a demon, as he was taught to in Hell. He didn't even flinch as he used to." The angel insisted.

"Wait, he was taught to torture in Hell?" Hermione asked, eyes wide.

"Yes, and I'm ashamed to say I forced him to do it to a demon prior to the apocalypse. He turned into a different person when he was doing it, and afterwards, he was depressed. It hurt his soul, made him feel as if he were no better than the monsters he hunts. He's back to being that person. It was like looking at Dean from 2 years' prior." Castiel went on. "It got them information to a demon named Ellsworth, but at what cost?"

"Sounds like the cost was Dean's self-loathing." Hermione commented. "Though I don't see how that has anything to do with me."

"Because he didn't need to be convinced that the demon needed to be tortured. He just chose to do it himself. Not to mention all he does is drink, hunt, and pick fights with everyone around him." Castiel replied.

"Very well, let's say I believe you. Who's Ellsworth?" Hermione questioned, bringing the angel back to his story.

"If there was a demon counterpart to Bobby Singer, Ellsworth would be it. These demons would lead the Winchesters to Crowley, and Crowley would tear their hearts out. So, I went and smote Ellsworth and the demons working with him, and I cleaned the place out. I had no choice. I did it to protect the boys, or to protect myself, I don't know anymore. Of course, when Dean, Sam, and Bobby turned up, Bobby and Sam suspected what I did. They did their best to convince Dean, but he was still trying to believe that I hadn't. Hiding, lying, sweeping away evidence, and my motives used to be so pure." Castiel confessed to Hermione.

Before Hermione could comment, they were interrupted by a knock at the door. Hermione rose and laboriously her way to the door. She opened it to see Harry and Ginny in the hallway. "Hey." She greeted them.

"Hey there, dinner is being served in the Great Hall. We came to get you." Harry said gently.

"I'll eat later, I'm kind of in the middle of something." Hermione hedged, fidgeting.

Seeing Castiel sitting on her couch, Ginny asked: "Who's your friend?"

Hermione swung the door open further so they could enter. "Harry, Ginny, this is Castiel, Angel of the Lord." Hermione introduced. "Cas, these are my friends Harry Potter, and his girlfriend Ginny Weasley."

"Very nice to meet you." Castiel replied, rooted to his spot on the couch.

"Angel of the Lord?" Harry questioned.

"Yes, he's one of Dean's friends." Hermione hesitantly explained, knowing Harry and Ginny were feeling less than charitable towards Dean.

"I suppose you're here to plead Dean's case?" Harry asked, voice hard.

"I came to talk to Hermione." Castiel explained.

"About Dean?" Ginny asked, her arms crossed in front of her, voice bordering on hostile.

"About a situation I find myself in. I could use outside perspective." Castiel replied, his usual matter-of-fact tone still in place.

"Very well then, it was a pleasure meeting you, but it's time for us to eat." Harry replied, gently guiding Ginny towards the door by her elbow. "Hermione, make sure you do eat before retiring."

"I promise to get something from the house elves." She replied.

Once they'd exited, Hermione retook her seat. "Why'd they remind you to eat?" Castiel asked.

"When I returned to England, after Dean cut me out of his life, my friends found me wallowing at a bed and breakfast, where I hadn't eaten or drank anything in a couple of days." Hermione explained, ashamed of how she'd handled herself.

"Hermione, that was not wise." Castiel admonished.

"I know, I know. I was rather distraught." Hermione defended. "But we're not here to discuss me, we're here to discuss you. So, you said Sam and Bobby suspected, correctly, that you'd taken out the demons before they could get there, and Dean was defending you. What happened next?"


	20. Hello, Lacrimosa

**Author's Note: Continued spoiler alert for The Man Who Would Be King. Still don't own any of the Harry Potter or Supernatural characters.  
**

 **Chapter Inspiration: Hello/Lacrimosa by The Piano Guys**

* * *

 **Chapter 20**

Castiel gave Hermione an admonishing look at her deflection back to his story. However, he continued. "After supposedly saving Sam, I finally returned to Heaven. Of course, there isn't just one Heaven. Each soul generates its own paradise. I favor the eternal Tuesday afternoon of an autistic man who drowned in a bathtub in 1953. There, I was met by a bunch of angels. We spoke of how Lucifer had destroyed me, how I'd been miraculously brought back, and how the apocalypse never happened. They assumed because I had helped the Winchesters stop the apocalypse, defeating Michael and Lucifer to do so, and because God resurrected me, that it was a sign that God wanted me to lead the angels. They looked to me for orders as to what to do. Following in the steps, and the example the Winchesters set for me, I told them about free will, and the freedom to choose, instead of just follow orders mindlessly. They didn't know what it was and asked me to tell them. If I knew then what I know now, I might've said 'it's simple, freedom is a length of rope, God wants you to hang yourself with it.'"

"So, you were going to try and teach angels that their way of life was obsolete, and that there was a different way to live?" Hermione asked for clarification.

"Yes." Castiel confirmed. "Though, those first weeks back in Heaven were surprisingly difficult. Explaining freedom to angels is a bit like teaching poetry to fish."

Hermione giggled at the angel's metaphor. She'd never known him to use such, even if he had meant it literally from his perspective. At Castiel's reproachful look, she calmed herself to hear more of his story.

"And then, there was Raphael, another archangel. He told me how he was taking control of Heaven, how the angels didn't need a new way of living. He was convinced that their only job was to take orders, and he had every intention of giving them. He told me that once he was giving the orders, he was going to release Michael and Lucifer from the cage, and restart the apocalypse. He also commanded that I bow to him. I couldn't let the Winchesters hard work and sacrifice go to waste, Hermione. I tried to stand up to him, but…" Castiel's sentence trailed off for a moment.

"But?" Hermione asked gently.

"I'm not ashamed to say, my big brother knocked me into next week." Castiel admitted.

"Okay, you're getting confusing in your storytelling. Let me see if I'm understanding you: first, you rescued Sam, but not all of Sam because his soul got stuck and left behind. Second, you went to heaven, tried giving angels free will, confronted an archangel named Raphael, and got beat up. There's a chunk of story missing, as for some reason, Dean lied to you, convinced by Sam and Bobby it was a wise idea, because you might be working for the King of Hell. He tortured a demon that led them to Ellsworth, but you took out Ellsworth. Something Bobby and Sam suspected you did, with Dean still trying to defend you. Am I wrong?" Hermione was trying to put the puzzle of this story together, however Castiel wasn't giving her the pieces in the right order.

"Correct, and I was spying on them the entire time. From the moment, they stepped into Ellsworth's, I was there, invisible, but there. Dean wanted to pray to me, to ask me if I knew who had cleaned out the place, and he gave a rousing argument for it. One that would have convinced me to do just about anything. It was enough for Sam to pray. But I didn't go to them, because I knew that they had questions I couldn't answer, because I was afraid. They assumed I was busy, and they were getting ready to leave, when demons attacked. They were sent by Crowley to kill them." Castiel went on.

Hermione gasped when he got to the part of the story where demons sent to kill the boys, attacked. As much as Dean had hurt her, she could not fathom him dead, and Sam, he was kind, so was Bobby. They were people she cared about.

Castiel kept on with the story, seemingly oblivious to Hermione's emotional state. "Crowley sent his very best. I was caught as much by surprise as the rest of them. And it left me with yet another choice: I could reveal myself and smite the demons, of course Crowley wouldn't like it but, on the other hand, they were my friends. So, I smote the demons before they could hurt the Winchesters, or Bobby, and for a brief moment, I was me again."

Hermione let out a breath of relief. All three were living, and Castiel had saved them. No matter where the story was headed from here, at least Dean and her friends were still alive.

"I played it off as if I'd just found them, and as if I had news of Crowley. Of course, it was the same information they already knew, but it was the best I felt I could do at the time. Dean wasn't impressed with regurgitated information, but he was smug thinking he was right about me. Apparently, me saving them proved his point. They were grateful to me, and my assistance. Wonders never cease, they trusted me again, but it was just another lie. Before I go on with this, there is something I feel I should personally note. The demons sent were Crowley's best, and Sam and Bobby were fighting as hard as they could against them to no avail, but Dean. It was if he didn't care whether he lived or died. He didn't fight as well as I know him to, and I was pretty sure at the time, that he was drunk." Castiel told Hermione. He studied the way Hermione reacted to his aside. Her eyes glazed over with tears before they dropped from his steady gaze to a wall opposite them.

He decided to keep going with his story. "I pretended to be surprised at the knowledge that they were going after Crowley and not telling me because they assumed I was working with him. I pretended it was an absurd notion for an angel and a demon to work together, and tried to quell their concerns. Of course, I didn't realize it at the time, but it was all over. Right then, just like that. When I left them, I went right to Crowley, and confronted him about the demons sent to kill my friends. After spewing some B. S. back at me about not being allowed to have friends, Crowley figured me out. He accused me of wanting to keep the Winchesters believing that I was still good, still righteous. He said that my motivation was that if they believed it, I could still believe it about myself. I see now, he wasn't wrong, but in order to distract him from his correct assumptions about me, I threatened him. If the Winchesters, or Bobby, were hurt because of him, then I would tear down his operation."

"So why did you do it? If you wanted them to believe you a good angel like it always seems they have, why were you working with Crowley? Better yet, why didn't you tear it down before it could go any further?" Hermione asked, wanting to understand better why the story hadn't ended with Castiel terminating whatever it was he had going on with the King of Hell.

"I asked myself what was I doing with this vermin, as if I didn't already know the answer. Raphael was stronger than me. I wouldn't survive a straight fight. So, I went to an old friend for help, but watching him, I stopped. Everything he sacrificed, and I was about to ask him for more." Castiel replied, giving Hermione a look, heavy with meaning.

"Dean?" Hermione asked on a gasp of breath.

"Yes, he was out in Bobby's yard, teaching you to fight." Castiel replied.

"I didn't know you were there." Hermione commented.

"No, you wouldn't have. I couldn't be seen by humans. That's when Crowley approached me, seeking a deal." Castiel replied, moving ahead a little bit more with his story.

"But you have no soul to sell." Hermione pointed out.

"That's what I told him, but he had a deal that would give me the power to take on Raphael, using souls. It was a deal meant to benefit both of us, him in Hell, myself in Heaven. The deal is to open the door to Purgatory, and use the souls from there. I was no fool, I knew who Crowley was, and what he did, but I was smarter than him, stronger. I see now that I was prideful, and in all likelihood, a fool." Castiel confirmed.

"You went from using past tense to present tense, is that deal still in place?" Hermione questioned, her voice rising a bit.

"Yes, it is in place currently." Castiel replied.

"Oh Cas, why?" Hermione asked, placing a hand on the angel's shoulder.

"I wish I could say I was clean of pride in that moment, or the next. And so, went the long road of good intentions, the road that brought me here. The moment that ended my deceit, was me using a metaphor that Bobby had come up with while I was spying on them. If I hadn't been spying, I wouldn't have known about it. I ended up being confronted by them, caught in the middle of a ring of Holy Fire. They were angry that I had been working with Crowley, and of course, the lying to them about it. Poor Dean looked as though I had betrayed him, and if I didn't think he could look any worse, he did. He looked as if it had all just finally broken him. I tried pleading my case, I tried telling them about defeating Raphael, I went so far as to reveal to everyone that I was the one to raise Sam. The younger Winchester didn't take it well, all because his soul had gotten left behind, and he was living with the guilt from having done terrible things while being without it. Being asked if I had brought him back soulless on purpose was a hard moment for me. Now I'm seeing that maybe their doubt is to be expected. Dean is right, I wouldn't have kept it all a secret from them if I truly thought that what I was doing was right. He told me that I should have just gone to him in the first place, that making deals with devils was never the right thing to do, but I never gave him the chance to tell me that before I did. It wasn't long after that, demons descended, and they had to run. Crowley put out the holy fire ring, and now, here I am. So, that's everything. I believe that's what you'd call a tragedy, from a human perspective. Maybe the human perspective is limited? I don't know. That's why I've been asking my Father if I'm doing the right thing, if I'm on the right path. I just need a sign, because if He doesn't, I'm going to do whatever I must." Castiel finished his story, hands clasped in his lap.

Hermione was fitting the last pieces of the puzzle together, finally seeing everything from start to finish with a sort of clarity that the angel lacked. "You admit Crowley was right about you, you see your own faults throughout the story, you've admitted as much. What if it wasn't on you to stop the apocalypse restart, and Raphael?"

"What do you mean?" Castiel asked, confused.

"What if it was more something that God needs to do, but he's just waiting for you to turn the responsibility back on him?" Hermione laid out the theory that had been building in her mind during his story.

"We can't find God, we tried. Joshua told the boys during the apocalypse that God didn't want to be found. That he was done helping." Castiel argued.

"That was, what? A year or more ago?" Hermione questioned.

"So?" Castiel responded.

"A lot has changed in a year Cas, maybe going about things now should be different too." Hermione advised.

"So, what would you do?" Castiel asked Hermione, conceding her point in his question.

"Re-try the God thing before moving forward with this asinine deal with Crowley. If this blows up in your face, there could be very dire consequences. I'm siding with Dean here on this one. This is not the way to go, and you do know it, or you wouldn't be here right now." Hermione said firmly.

"You're very bright for your age, Hermione Granger." Castiel remarked.

"I've been told that once or twice." She joked with a smile. "If you want, I'll even explain to them, that you've changed your mind. If you have, that is."

"I have, and I'd be much obliged." The angel replied, helping Hermione to stand.

"It'll take a couple of days to arrange the portkey. There's a special one that has to be made for women as pregnant as I am, but I'll tell them for you." Hermione assured him.

"I'll take you, it's not as dangerous for me to fly out, as it is for me to fly in." Castiel replied. Before Hermione could counter him, he pressed two fingers to her forehead, landing them both in Bobby's living room, where Dean was dozing on the couch.


	21. Unbeautiful

**Author's Note: Final spoiler alert for The Man Who Would Be King. I don't own any character other than baby Winchester.**

 **Chapter Inspiration: Unbeautiful by Lesley Roy**

* * *

 **Chapter 21**

Hermione got all of a minute to take in the sight of Dean sleeping on Bobby's couch, before he stirred. He was not the same as when she had left him. He was slightly skinnier, definitely paler, and he didn't look peaceful asleep as he once had. Once he stirred, she noticed how much jerkier his movements seemed. His now opened eyes narrowed in on Cas first, as she was standing slightly behind the angel.

"Hello Dean." Castiel greeted.

"How did you get in here?" Dean's voice sounded confused. She watched him look around. Her eyes followed where his had gone to see spray painted sigils on the windows nearby.

"The angel proofing Bobby put up on the house, he got a few things wrong." Castiel informed the still tired hunter.

"Well, it's too bad we have to angel proof in the first place, isn't it? Why are you here?" Dean questioned, impatient for Castiel to explain his sudden appearance.

"I want you to understand..." Castiel began to explain, rendering Hermione's presence completely unnecessary, however, Dean interrupted.

"Oh, believe me, I get it. Blah, blah, Raphael, right?"

Dean's impatience sparked something resembling defiance in Castiel. Something he was unused to dealing with. "I did this for you Dean. I did this because of you."

Dean scoffed before commenting. "Because of me." He let out a humorless laugh before continuing. "You've got to be kidding me."

"You're the one who taught me that freedom, and free will..." Castiel began to try and defend again before being cut off.

"You're a freaking child, you know that?" Dean accused harshly. "Just because you can do what you want, doesn't mean you get to do whatever you want." Each word was said louder, and louder, until he was angrily yelling at Castiel.

It was that moment Hermione decided she couldn't take it any longer. Stepping out from behind the angel, she situated herself between the two and held a hand out towards each. "Now, that's enough you two!" Her voice was firm and stern.

"Hermione?" Dean questioned, his anger replaced by confusion.

"Yes, it's me, nice to see you too by the way." Hermione commented quickly.

"How did you get here?" Dean asked again.

"Not important right now. What is important, is that Castiel came to see me. He told me about what's been going on, what he's done, and the mistakes he's made. He came here to tell you that he's decided that you were right." Hermione replied, turning so that Castiel was behind her. There was no question who she was addressing.

"Right?" Dean asked, too many thoughts and words spiraling through his brain.

"Yes Dean, you were right to confront Cas about his connection to Crowley, and the two of them going after Purgatory. He knows that, and he's ready to find different means to defeat Raphael. Isn't that right Cas?" She continued, turning to address her question to the angel who was remaining quiet behind her.

"She's correct, Dean." The angel told the now flummoxed hunter.

"So, what, you're just going to stop working for Crowley now?" Dean asked.

"Isn't that what we just said?" Hermione asked, annoyed that point had to be reiterated.

"You don't understand Hermione, Crowley has the ability to retaliate against those who don't hold up their end of any deal." Dean explained.

"Of course he does, Dean. He's the King of Hell." Hermione replied, resisting any and all urge to roll her eyes at him.

"How did you know that?" Dean asked her, astounded.

"Castiel." Hermione shrugged as if it were no big deal. "Anyways, he's decided not to pursue it."

"Sure, and put how many people at risk from Crowley?" Dean asked, arms crossing across his chest. Hermione knew he often did that when agitated.

"People are already at risk, namely you, your brother, and Bobby. I'm convinced a different method of defeating Raphael will free you from any further danger." Castiel replied.

"Except now you've gone to Hermione, which I'm sure Crowley's heard about by now. She's now at risk, and he can use her as leverage!" Dean exclaimed angrily.

"The only leverage he'd have using me, is on Castiel." Hermione muttered.

"No, that's nowhere near true. If Crowley were to get his hands on you, he'd have leverage on all of us." Dean replied, hurt bordering on the edge of his angry tone.

"Whatever." Hermione replied. "Why not help Castiel find an alternate 'defeat Raphael' plan before this becomes an issue?"

"So, what? You think I should trust him enough to work with him?" Dean questioned.

"No. I'm saying work with him. He has to earn your trust back." Hermione pointed out. Standing between these two was becoming painful. She pressed her hand into her lower back, hoping to ease some of the muscle pain she was experiencing. It didn't help.

"You okay?" Dean questioned, seeing immediately the way she massaged her lower back.

"I'm fine." Hermione snapped. "You and Cas work your crap out. I'm going back to Hogwarts." Hermione pulled her wand from her jeans pocket, ready to take the risk of apparating to get away from the fighting, and somewhere more comfortable.

"You're not apparating." Dean countered.

"Watch me!" Hermione challenged, her wand poised and waiting.

"Dean's right, Hermione. It is not wise right now." Castiel warned.

"Fine, Cas, take me back to Hogwarts so you and Dean can talk." Hermione demanded.

"Remember, I am unable to fly you back in." Castiel pointed out.

"You're the one who flew her out!" Dean exclaimed.

"It's safer to fly out than in." Castiel replied, not seeing what the big deal was about.

"So, you put their lives at risk, just to come here and talk?" Dean questioned heatedly. Hermione didn't understand why Dean was ranting at Cas about her safety.

"There was negligible risk, Dean. If there was more of a danger, I wouldn't have done it." Castiel replied.

"Because I believe that." Dean said sarcastically.

"You don't have to, Dean. I did, and he got me here in one piece. Now all I have to do is get back in one piece so I'm close to Luna." Hermione replied sharply.

Dean flinched. She was actively trying to get away from him. It was his own fault. "Well, I'm concerned that there may not be, so you may as well calm down."

"Calm down? CALM DOWN?" Hermione lost it, making Dean and Castiel both flinch, as well as waking up Sam and Bobby. "You mean as calm as you were when Cas and I arrived?"

"Hermione…" Dean tried to explain before she went on.

"I don't see why this is a big deal. It's not like you care."

The wind rushed out of Dean's lungs at her statement. Sam and Bobby were wide eyed, their gazes bouncing back and forth between a furious Hermione, and a defiant Dean. Castiel was watching the exchange with compassion for both individuals involved.

"Not like I care?" Dean's voice had barely any volume to it. "Not like I care?"

"No, you made that clear when you sent me back to England. When you chose hunting over your family." Hermione accused.

Dean flinched. She was right of course, but hearing it out loud felt like being stabbed in the chest. "You think…" He couldn't get the rest of the sentence out.

"Yes, that's exactly what I think, and that's why I'll find a way back home. Come Hell or high water." Hermione informed him, turning to walk towards the door.

She didn't get two steps before she heard Dean speak again. "What if I admitted that I was wrong?"

Four pairs of eyes whipped to Dean. He never admitted when he was wrong. One gaze though, was more suspicious than surprised. "What do you mean?" Hermione asked.

"I didn't do it because I didn't care. It was all about keeping you safe." Dean replied.

"So, what? You think now that Castiel has showed up at my door, putting me in danger, you have to justify yourself now?" Hermione questioned.

"No. I was on the verge of telling you myself before Cas showed up with you." Dean admitted.

"I'm supposed to believe that? You told me that you were in this with me, then suddenly you turn around and tell me that you won't be a hunter and father, and that I had to leave. Well, let me tell you, I left, and I went back to England. I didn't make it back to Hogwarts at first. I'm lucky I made it to a bed and breakfast. When Harry, Ron, and Ginny found me, I hadn't eaten or drank anything for days." Hermione released everything at Dean, ignorant to the shocked onlookers of Castiel, Sam, and Bobby. "Luna was pissed at me for not taking care of myself, and admitted me to a magical hospital for a week. I was released to the care of Hogwarts, and its staff. They're the ones who have taken care of me, they're the ones who have made sure that I've made all my appointments with Luna, and that I'm taking care of the baby, and myself. I owe them a great deal. Now, you tell me that you cut me out because you cared about my safety? Save the bullshit for someone who believes you."

Dean was beyond shocked. She had unloaded truth he had no clue about. He knew Harry at least was mad at him, Bobby had told him as such, since they were still in contact with each other. No one knew that Hermione had crashed. When no one said anything, Hermione went on, this time with tears streaking down her cheeks, unchecked.

"The worst part of all, was the realization that I am not the brightest witch of my age, despite what the papers, and people have called me over the years. I'm not the smartest, and I don't know it all, despite what Harry and Ron jokingly accuse me of from time to time. If I was, I'd have known better than to fall in love with you!" Hermione yelled the last sentence, before waddling as fast as was possible in her condition, out the front door, slamming it behind her.

The stunned group looked at the door Hermione had exited. She'd unloaded a lot of information on them, and no one quite knew where to start processing, least of all, Dean. Castiel mumbled his apologies, and stated he felt that the situation between Hermione and Dean took precedence, and then he flew off. Bobby and Sam muttered something about finding coffee, before scurrying for the kitchen. Dean however, was rooted to the spot he'd been standing in when she'd yelled her confession of love for him. His heart was pounding as he weighed each word she'd spoken to him, wringing her message of its meaning. The bottom line was that she'd made him feel as if he were a coward, and that was not a normal feeling for him. Of course, he'd been accused of being one, however, he'd never felt as if he were. Now, he did feel that he was. He found himself second guessing his intentions for the first time.

He sighed and ran a hand through his hair before walking towards the door. When he swung it open, he was surprised to find Hermione standing on the porch in front of the top step, her hand on the railing. Her face was turned towards the sky, and tears were still pouring down her cheeks. Dean closed the door quietly and moved so that he was standing parallel to her, leaning against the opposite rail.

"I suppose the road to Hell is paved with good intentions." Dean commented casually.

"Really? An aphorism?" Hermione scoffed, pressing her free hand to her lower back again. "You might as well follow it up with the alternative 'Hell is full of good meanings, but Heaven is full of good works.'"

"I'm sorry." Dean said sincerely. It seemed too simple, like the words themselves were not enough, but he didn't do apologies. That seemed to him like a bigger step than just feeling it.

"Do you even really mean that?" Hermione asked, her voice soft and small.

"Yeah. I don't do apologies, but I really do feel it" Dean confessed, coughing at the end at the cheesiness of the moment.

"Why did you really do it?" Hermione asked.

"An angel named Balthazar. He changed an event in history that created an alternate reality. One in which you were murdered by demons because I was still a hunter." Dean admitted reluctantly.

"Well, I'm still alive, so I'm assuming he went back and undid whatever it is that he did?" Hermione surmised.

"Yeah, but at a price. Two hunters that were alive in that reality, dead in this one, had to die again. It was up to Sam and Bobby to get Balthazar to undo what he did. Cas made sure that Bobby wouldn't remember though. He allowed me and Sam to remember the alternate reality though." Dean explained.

"Okay." Hermione replied, seeing things a little more clearly the more he talked.

"Before that, Sam asked me if I was going to hunt and parent, and when I said I wasn't sure what I was going to do, he asked a question that, don't tell him, but it hit a nerve. He asked me how I could continue to hunt while parenting, and not turn into our father." Dean admitted, feeling weak.

"I'm going to assume that would not be a good thing?" Hermione asked for clarification.

"No, our father was obsessed with hunting. We were alone a lot, sometimes for weeks, to fend for ourselves. We bounced around all over the country, going from school to school, never staying in one place. We came second to his hunt for revenge. It's what drove Sam away, and took me longer to realize." Dean continued to bare his soul to Hermione.

"Oh, Dean." Hermione gasped, feeling compassion for the man beside her, despite the fact she was still angry at him for cutting her out of his life. Suddenly, it all made sense. "You really did all this in a misguided attempt for us, didn't you?"

"Yeah, but leave it to me to screw it up." Dean commented, looking away from her so she wouldn't see that his eyes were slightly glassier than normal.

"What do you mean?" Hermione asked.

"I took the cowards way out, and here you are, back to help all of us keep Cas from breaking the world." Dean replied.

"He came to tell me a story and get my outside perspective. I just gave him my opinion, and he listened. He originally zapped me here so I could tell you, but, we all know how that went. That's the reason I came, I didn't come to upset you, or even to unload like I did. I apologize for that, and I'll apologize to Sam, Cas, and Bobby later. They shouldn't have had to listen to me lose it." Hermione said.

"I deserved it." Dean admitted.

"I suppose so, just not with an audience." Hermione half agreed.

"So, do you forgive me?" Dean asked, holding his breath for her answer.


	22. Tragedy Time

**Author's Note: I do not own the Harry Potter or Supernatural characters, they belong to Kripke and Rowling. The only one I own is baby girl Winchester.  
**

 **Chapter Inspiration: Tragedy + Time by Rise Against**

* * *

 **Chapter 22**

Hermione took a deep breath, then another before answering him. "Yes Dean, I forgive you. Where does that leave us though?"

Dean thought for a moment about her question. After dealing with an angry Sam, and an even angrier Bobby for the last month and a half, he was ready to make a decision that nobody ever thought he'd make willingly. "If you give me a second chance to make things right, I think it's time to retire from actively hunting." He admitted.

"Really? You're all of the sudden okay with stopping hunting? What changed?" Hermione asked curiously, lowering herself so she could at least sit on the steps, despite the falling snow.

Dean lowered himself to sit, but kept some space between them. "A lot has changed. The last month and a half was like living in a nightmare. It forced a perspective change from being hunter first, to father first, to partner first. I told you about the question Sam had asked me once, but after I sent you away, he and Bobby told me that by doing what I'd done, I'd become my father."

"So, you're telling me you don't feel the same about hunting?" Hermione asked gently, her voice was curious, but lacked any judgement or suspicion.

"I feel differently about hunting now. I probably will get the urge to do it from time to time, but it doesn't fit me anymore. If that makes any sense." Dean replied, trying his best to explain to Hermione the difference time had made.

"Makes sense to me. At some point, we all have to grow up, and reassess our priorities. It sounds like you've been doing some soul searching." Hermione commented.

"You make me sound like a chick flick." Dean joked, shooting her a half smile.

She laughed softly, enjoying being back to their old banter interspersed with heavy conversation. "Admit it, you like it." She teased right back.

"Nope, not admitting to anything, sweetheart." He replied, resisting the urge to touch her. It surprised him when she scooted herself across the small space between them and rested her head on his shoulder.

"This is your last chance Winchester; don't you dare push me away again." Hermione told him, her voice holding a warning.

"I don't plan on it." He replied, his throat becoming uncomfortable with emotion again. He allowed his head to relax so his cheek pressed against her head.

"What time is it?" Hermione asked around a yawn.

Looking at his watch, Dean cringed at the time. "It's just past three in the morning."

"Lovely. I don't suppose I could get some food and a place to crash?" Hermione asked hopefully.

"You don't even have to ask." Dean replied. When Hermione made no immediate motion to get up, Dean lifted his head to look at her.

"Before we go back in there, I just want you to know something." She said softly, not removing her head from his shoulder.

"Okay." Dean replied gently, mentally encouraging her to go on.

"Even if you don't feel the same, I meant what I yelled at you earlier. You know, about having fallen in love with you." Hermione told him calmly. "You don't have to love me to be involved though."

"Hermione…" Dean started to interject, but she stopped him.

"You don't have to say anything, Dean. I'm okay with you not saying anything right now. I just wanted you to know. Full disclosure and all." Hermione said, finally lifting her head and sliding away from him. Reaching out, she grabbed the rail to help herself to stand. Dean however, seeing her struggle, raised himself to help. Taking her hand and elbow, he got her back upright. "Thank you." She said, bringing the hand that had been gripping the railing behind her to rub her lower back again.

"Are you okay? You keep rubbing your back." Dean asked, he didn't like her being in any kind of pain.

"I'm fine, just a bit of lower back pain. Comes from being nearly as big as Bobby's house." Hermione joked.

Dean rolled his eyes at her description of her size. "If you need anything, you tell someone." He instructed.

"Yes sir." Hermione mock saluted him with a wink.

Dean swallowed the hormones she activated with her words. It wouldn't do to be in that state, in a moment such as this. "Let's get you fed and to bed, momma." Dean replied.

Together they walked back into Bobby's house, walking towards the kitchen where Sam and Bobby were sitting at the table, coffee in front of them. They shot glares at Dean, something Hermione noticed.

"You don't have to glare at him." Hermione admonished, hands going to her hips. Dean whipped around to see Bobby and Sam with now sheepish looks on their faces.

"Hermione, it's good to see you again, but this idjit here…" Bobby started to explain before she cut him off.

"While it's good to see you too Bobby, everything's fine now. We talked it all out, and while we have a long way to go until everything's back to the way it was between us, we're going to try." Hermione explained. "He's even made a decision I think you'll be proud of him for."

Both Bobby and Sam looked to Dean for an explanation. With a sigh, Dean moved so that he was standing behind Hermione, his hands on her shoulders. "I've decided to move to England and quit hunting." He said quickly.

At first, Bobby and Sam looked shocked. Both Dean and Hermione had to stifle a giggle at Sam's slack-jawed look, and Bobby's eyes so wide his eyebrows were hiding in what was left of his hairline. Sam was the first to recover.

"It's about time!" Sam replied, getting up from the table so he could slap Dean on the shoulder in a congratulatory gesture. "I've been telling him for months he should do just that, but no, he had to go and make himself miserable." Sam addressed Hermione in a joking manner.

She smiled gently at the younger Winchester. "His heart was in the right place, and he's on the road to fixing his mistakes."

"That's good. If you ever need him whipped back into shape, you let us know!" Sam offered with a wink.

"I may take you up on that." Hermione joked back. Dean just rolled his eyes in good humor.

Bobby who, until that moment had been silent, cleared his throat, getting the attention of the young people bantering back and forth. He rose from his chair and moved so he was standing directly in front of Hermione and Dean. He pulled Hermione from Dean's hands, and into a firm hug.

"You are a compassionate woman, and he's going to need that. He's going to make mistakes now and then, just love him through them." He whispered in her ear.

"I will." Hermione whispered back.

Bobby released her and did the same to Dean, something that pleasantly surprised Hermione and Sam.

"You look after your girls, you hear me? No, you don't deserve her, so try your best to not screw this up. Again." Bobby whispered to him.

"I promise Bobby, I'll look after them. Until I die." Dean replied, getting the closest he'd ever gotten to expressing his love for Hermione and his daughter out loud.

Dean and his father figure broke their hug, and Dean of course, shattered the moment. "Okay, can we get her some food now so she can get some rest?"

Everyone laughed, and the men went to work gathering up some edible food for her to eat. Hermione tried to insist that she handle getting food, but Dean forced her into a chair at the table, and instructed her not to move. She stifled giggles watching 3 grown men trip over themselves to fuss over her like mother hens. Though, she doubted they'd appreciate being compared to such. Bobby made sure to provide her with the largest glass he owned, filled to the brim with water, and both Sam and Dean worked together to put together a BLT sandwich. Once she had food in front of her, she thanked them and dug in.

Once she started eating, Bobby and Sam went back to bed, leaving the parents-to-be alone in the kitchen. Neither spoke, but the silence wasn't uncomfortable. Dean was speculating what his life was going to be like without hunting, and even though he was fine with it, he couldn't help but feel a slight, nostalgic tug on his heartstrings. He thought back on the last month and accepted that hunting was no longer his calling, not if it meant being without his girls, as he'd come to think of them. Suddenly, a realization dawned on him.

"Shouldn't you be having some kind of baby gift exchange thing, or something? What do you women call them?" Dean struggled.

"You mean a baby shower?" Hermione asked, after swallowing a bite of her sandwich.

"Huh?" Dean was confused. "I'm not asking if you give a baby a shower."

If Hermione could double over, she would have been with how hard she was laughing. Dean was feeling rather indignant with her reaction. "I'm serious!"

"Oh, I know, but you're too funny!" Hermione exclaimed. "The baby gift exchange thing you were asking about is called a baby shower. It's where people come and bring gifts for the baby."

"Oh. Well how was I supposed to know?" Dean asked indignantly.

"I suppose you wouldn't, would you?" Hermione asked, her laughter gradually subsiding. "To answer your question though, yes, I did have one. Minerva hosted it a couple of weeks ago."

"Oh." Dean replied.

"Yeah, Minerva, Ginny, and Hannah all helped me set up a nursery for her too." Hermione gently told Dean.

"Really?" Dean asked, feeling increasingly shittier. He felt like everyone had done something for his daughter but him. It wasn't a comfortable feeling.

"Yeah, it's really pretty. You'll like it." Hermione replied, oblivious to the depressing turn Dean's thoughts had taken.

"I'm sure I will." Dean replied, clearing his throat. He decided he'd go out tomorrow, or rather later today, and get his daughter something. Noticing Hermione's plate and glass were empty, he picked up both and dropped them in Bobby's sink. He then held his hand out to help Hermione up. "You sleep upstairs, I'm going to crash on the couch." He offered.

"Okay, if you're sure?" Hermione asked.

"I'm sure. Get some good sleep, sweetheart." Dean assured, squeezing her hand gently.

She rewarded him with a kind, but sleepy smile. Before she left the kitchen, she stretched up to kiss him on the cheek. Dean smiled once she'd left the room, he was happier than he had been while she was gone. Once he heard her shut the bedroom door, he went to the living room to see Sam sprawled out on the couch, snoring away. With a sigh, Dean contented himself with the recliner, and fell into a fitful doze.

Hermione was used to being uncomfortable all the time because of her size. What she wasn't used to, was being this uncomfortable though. Her back hurt worse than ever, her hips were now hurting, and the front of her distended stomach felt uncomfortable. She shifted carefully so she could rest on her right side, instead of the left. When that didn't ease any of the pain she was experiencing, she sighed and looked at the alarm clock. It was nearing 11 a. m.

With a groan, she sat up, propping pillows so she could rest her back. No dice, in fact, she almost felt worse. She dropped her head back to the wall behind her and groaned again. Figuring maybe some movement would help, she got out of bed, and began to pace. Initially it helped the ache fade a bit, but after sitting back on the bed again, it started right back up again. Hermione gave a frustrated growl and balled her hands into fists, the sleeves of her sweater protecting her palms from her fingernails. She stood to pace again, but this time, she felt the sensation as if something liquid were running down her leg. With dread, she lifted a leg to inspect her jeans, and there indeed was a wet trail running down the inseam.

"DEAN!" She yelled.

There was a crash from below her, followed by multiple sounds of pounding boots. Bobby was first into the room, having slept in the bedroom across the hall, followed by a frantic looking Dean.

"What's going on?" He asked, hurriedly rushing around Bobby to her side.

"I need to get to a hospital." Hermione replied calmly. "Your daughter has decided she wants to be born today."

Dean's eyes went wide with the news. Unfortunately, any coherent thought went out the window at the same time. He looked to Bobby, who was looking rather amused at his alarm.

"Dean, get her to the Impala and get your asses down to Sioux Falls General. Sam and I will be right behind you guys." Bobby said, taking control of the situation.

"Okay, right." Dean replied with a nod. He wrapped one arm around Hermione's back, and took one of her hands in his as he guided her gently out of the bedroom, down the stairs, and out to the Impala. Settling her in the backseat, he jumped behind the wheel, and sped out of the driveway.


	23. Closing Time

**Author's Note: I don't own any character other than baby Winchester. If you do not know the story behind the song Closing Time by Semisonic, I recommend looking it up on YouTube to see why I used it as the chapter title. Warning: fairly graphic birth scene, not overly, but it's still kind of there.  
**

* * *

 **Chapter 23**

Dean pushed every speed limit between Bobby's and the hospital. Meanwhile, Hermione was getting increasingly uncomfortable, and not just because she was in pain. The leaking feeling was getting annoying. She tried to stay in a position such that she wouldn't leak on his seats, however, it was getting impossible.

"Are you okay? Is there anything I can do?" Dean asked frantically.

"I hurt, and no. Just get me to the hospital." Hermione told him, grimacing at a particularly sharp pain.

"One hospital, coming right up." Dean quipped, pressing just a little harder on the accelerator.

Another few minutes, and they were pulling up to the Emergency door. An orderly met them outside the car, asking Dean what was going on when he exited to help Hermione out.

"She's having a baby." Dean replied, looking at the orderly, his expression slightly panicked.

"Okay, let's get her in a wheelchair and up to Labor and Delivery then." The orderly replied kindly. Once Hermione's door was opened, the two men helped her into a waiting wheelchair. "How far along are you?" The orderly asked her.

"Nearing 37 weeks." Hermione replied automatically.

"Do you have a local OB?" The orderly asked.

"No, my doctor is in London." Hermione explained.

"No problem. Sir, go ahead and park in the parking garage. When you enter through the main entrance, someone will show you how to find her. Remember, she'll be in Labor and Delivery." The orderly informed Dean, wheeling Hermione into the hospital.

Dean, feeling more than slightly helpless, laced his fingers at the top of his head. It wouldn't do for him to panic. It's not like women didn't do this all the time. He forced himself to move away from the doors, to his car, and back behind Baby's wheel. He did as he was instructed, running into Bobby and Sam on his way in. They all entered the hospital at the same time, Dean asking for directions to the ward the orderly had told him.

When they arrived, there was a woman waiting at a desk behind glass. "Name?" She asked kindly.

"Uh, I'm Dean Winchester, my girlfriend was just brought in here." Dean explained.

"What's her name?" The woman asked calmly, sensing his panic.

"Uh, Hermione Granger." Dean replied, nearly forgetting her last name.

"Ah, here she is. See that door to your left?" When Dean nodded, she went on. "When you hear a buzz, pull the door open. We'll get you a wrist band, and show you where she's being set up."

"Okay, thanks." Dean replied, feeling nervous. He looked to Sam and Bobby who were standing behind him.

"Go on, son. We'll be out here waiting." Bobby said encouragingly.

"Dean, if you need anything, you let us know." Sam added.

"Thanks." Dean replied, rubbing the back of his neck. He then moved towards the door. When he heard the buzz, he pulled open the door and stepped through. The woman behind the window was standing at a counter waiting for him.

"Okay, Mr. Winchester, the band we're giving you has a number on it. It identifies you with your baby once he or she is born." The woman said, holding up a band with Hermione's name on it, as well as a barcode with numbers below it.

"She. It's a she." Dean replied as the woman slipped it around his wrist, fastening it.

"Congratulations dad." The woman said, smiling kindly at him. "Now, let's get you to your girlfriend. I'm sure she's anxious to see you."

The woman stepped out from behind the desk, and led Dean down the hall. He followed her as she turned right down another hallway, nearly running into her back when she stopped at a closed door, the fourth one on the right. She knocked and a nurse wearing navy blue scrubs answered the door.

"Yes?" She asked the woman.

"I've got the dad here." The desk woman told the nurse.

"Wonderful!" The nurse chirped happily. "Come right on in dad, the on-call OB has her all set up."

"Congratulations again, you're free to come and go as you please. I'll be on until three, and my name's Allison. I'll be replaced after I leave, and then Kimberly will be taking over for me." The desk woman, now identified as Allison informed him before walking quickly back to her post.

"Well, come on in. I'm Hermione's nurse, and my name is Jennifer." The nurse introduced as she pushed the door further open so he could step through.

"Nice to meet you." Dean replied, shoving his hands deep in his jeans pockets. When he stepped through the door, his eyes landed on Hermione who was lying in a hospital bed, wires and an IV tube protruding from her.

"Where've you been?" Hermione asked jokingly.

"Had to park Baby. Bobby and Sam are out in the waiting room." Dean replied, moving to sit in the chair beside her bed.

"Wonderful." Hermione replied. "I haven't been here long, just got to meet the doctor and the nurse. They seem nice."

"I just met the nurse, and the ward receptionist, I guess you'd call her." Dean replied, reaching through the bed rails to take Hermione's hand.

"Now momma, because this is your first, this probably is going to take a while. The doctor will be in every two hours or so to check your dilation until you get to six centimeters. Once you get to six, he'll check every hour. I warn you, those contractions are going to get worse. Don't wait until the last minute to decide if you want an epidural, or pain medication. There will come a point where we won't be able to do it if you do." Jennifer advised. "Dad, your job is just to be there for her. Be as encouraging as possible."

"He will be, I'm sure." Hermione answered for him, her hand gently squeezing his.

"Wonderful! See you in a couple of hours then!" Jennifer chirped again, before exiting the room.

"I want to punch her in the face." Hermione grumbled once the door was shut.

Before he could respond to her grumbling, Hermione's grip on his hand tightened exponentially. He looked to see her face scrunched up in pain, her free hand grasping her stomach. "Breathe, sweetheart." Dean encouraged, not really knowing what to do.

"Not helping." She forced out.

"Just make sure you breathe. It'll help." Dean advised, bringing his free hand up to rub the hand gripping his.

Once the contraction had passed, she released her death grip on his hand. It was then she realized the one thing she hadn't done. "Dean, we don't have a name picked out!" Hermione started to painic.

"One thing at a time sweetheart. We can talk about it after." He assured her.

For the next six hours, she contracted, squeezing Dean's hand, and sniping at him whenever he tried to encourage her to breathe. He finally met the doctor after two hours of their arrival, but he wasn't sure how he felt about Doctor Speight. The man seemed confident enough, but Dean was feeling rather territorial about the area below Hermione's waist.

Rounding out hour six, the nurse came in to check Hermione. It was determined that she was fully dilated, and that it was time to push. Dean was moved so he could help and hold her hand. By this time, she was really cursing his name, and loudly. The doctor came in and positioned himself at the end of her bed, lifting the sheet exposing her to the room.

"Ready to meet your baby?" He asked, pulling the ends of his gloves so they snapped.

"More than fucking ready." Hermione snapped.

"Sweetheart." Dean warned.

"No Dean, you did this to me!" She turned on him.

"Ignore her dad, it's the pain talking." Jennifer quietly told Dean.

"I know." Dean replied resignedly.

"Hermione, your next contraction, I want you to really push." The doctor told her in a professional, but kind tone.

Hermione's tired eyes met Dean's. "Soon it'll all be over sweetheart." He told her.

"I'm so tired." She whispered to him.

"I know. Soon you can rest, I promise." Dean replied, his free hand stroking her hair, limp with sweat, from her face.

"I want to rest now." She whimpered.

"I know sweetheart. Let's meet our daughter first though." He replied.

"She's contracting." Jennifer announced, looking at a monitor near Hermione's head.

"Go ahead and push." The doctor encouraged.

Her grip on his hand increased as she did as the doctor instructed. Dean helped, bracing her forward with his free arm and whispering encouraging things to her.

"I hate you." Hermione told him, somewhere around her third or fourth push.

"I know." Dean replied, smirking at her.

An hour later, and it seemed like they were making no progress. Hermione was starting to refuse to push, despite the encouragement she was getting from Dean, Nurse Jennifer, and Doctor Speight.

"Just get her out now, I don't care how you do it!" She yelled.

"Sweetie, just keep trying. She's close, I can see her head." The nurse told her calmly.

"I don't care!" Hermione was on the verge of tears. "Dean, help."

"Sweetheart, they say she's almost there. Just one or two more." Dean encouraged, kissing her sweaty forehead.

"If it's any more than two, I'm going to hex you sterile." Hermione threatened, though her teary eyes, though she wasn't overly serious about it.

"Yes dear." Dean decided humoring her would probably be the better option.

As Dean, had told her, two pushes later, and the room they'd been in for hours, was filled with the cry of a newborn baby.

"Congratulations mom and dad, it's a girl!" Doctor Speight announced, holding up the screaming baby.

Hermione collapsed back on the pillows, tears of joy running down her face. Dean had gone pale, but his eyes did fill with happy tears. When the nurses took her away to clean her up, Dean gave Hermione a tender kiss to her lips.

"She's beautiful." Dean whispered, pressing his forehead to hers.

"I love you." Hermione replied, her filter gone with the stress of the day.

Before Dean could reply in any way, the nurse came back with their daughter who was now cleaned, and wrapped in a pink blanket with a matching cap on her head. He moved away from Hermione as she held her arms out for the bundle.

"Someone wanted to meet her mommy." Nurse Jennifer said, carefully shifting said bundle into Hermione's waiting arms.

Dean watched in awe as Hermione instinctively brought the baby close to her, peering at her face. She was already a natural mom. He leaned closer to see his baby's face. What he saw made his heart expand by leaps and bounds. She was perfect, and he'd defy anybody to try and tell him differently.

"She's beautiful." Dean whispered again.

"She's perfect." Hermione agreed.

"We're going to get you set up in the maternity ward now, and then you can have visitors. You did well, Hermione." The doctor said, disposing of his gloves.

"Thank you doctor." Hermione replied gratefully.

With a smile and nod in acknowledgement, and the doctor exited the room. Fifteen minutes later, Hermione and the baby were in a maternity room. Dean had gone to get Bobby and Sam so they could meet the newest member of the Winchester family. He entered the waiting room, and encountered more people than he was expecting. Bobby, Sam, Jody, Harry, Ginny, Ron, Hannah, and Minerva were all there. Dean went wide eyed for a moment, wondering when everyone had gotten there.

"What?" Dean asked the only question that came to mind.

"Harry wrote Bobby to ask where Hermione was, and the owl found him here, so he wrote back that you were here and she was having the baby." Ginny replied, tone wary.

"She has had the baby, both are doing great." Dean announced with more than a little pride. "Baby girl is six pounds, six ounces, twenty inches long."

"Congrats." Sam replied happily.

"She can only have two visitors at a time, and I have to walk anyone back." Dean told the group assembled.

The group looked at each other, trying to decide who was going in first. In the end, Sam and Bobby were the first pair back. Sam fell in love with her immediately after she was placed in his arms. He barely got to hold his niece for two minutes, before she was taken by an overly smitten Bobby. This went on for the remainder of the visitors. Harry and Ginny, both who had ribbed the new parents about not having picked a name for the baby. Harry threatened just to call her "baby" if they didn't think of a name soon, to which Dean informed him that nickname was reserved for his car. Ron and Hannah were next, Ron was adamant about not holding the baby for fear of dropping her. However, Hannah gave him her no nonsense look, to which he relented and allowed Hermione to transfer the pink bundle to his arms. Last was Jody and Minerva, the two honorary grandmothers. Both fawned over the baby, congratulating her parents.

By the time everyone left, both were feeling very tired. Dean sat next to Hermione on her hospital bed, one arm around her, the other holding tightly to his daughter.

"We still need a name." Hermione told him gently, her hand gently brushing over the soft pink cap.

"What about Hope?" Dean asked, identifying one of the things he had been feeling since the Hermione forgave him.

"I was thinking Brianna. It's a Celtic name meaning 'strength.'" Hermione commented.

"Brianna Hope." Dean suggested, studying the newborn's features in the soft lighting.

"I like it. Brianna Hope Winchester." Hermione said decisively.

Dean's eyes whipped from his daughter's, to Hermione's content brown ones. It was in that moment, just the three of them, that Dean finally spoke the words he'd been holding back for nearly nine months.

"I love you, Hermione."


	24. Carry On Wayward Son

**Author's Note: This is it! The end of my Hermione/Dean journey. I hope you enjoyed reading it as much as I enjoyed writing it. I love these characters very much, and I hope I did them justice for you. I'll be sharing the official playlists for this, and the prequel, Finding Beauty on my Twitter page. For the last time, I do not own the Harry Potter characters or Supernatural characters. The only one I own is Miss. Brianna Hope Winchester.  
**

 **Chapter Inspiration: Carry On Wayward Son by Kansas**

* * *

 **Epilogue**

September

It was nearing 5 o'clock in the morning when Brianna's cries started drifting through the baby monitor. The sound jerked Hermione awake. She rubbed her eyes, then turned to snuggle face first into the warm chest that had been pressed against her back. Dean laughed groggily at the reaction, lifting the arm that was around her so he could look at the watch on his wrist. He groaned at the early hour displayed.

"I think she's hungry." He told Hermione, kissing her on the top of the head.

"Yeah, probably." Hermione admitted, kissing Dean's bare chest, before extricating herself from his hold, and the blankets.

She walked to the door, but just before she stepped out, she snuck a glance back at her bed. Dean had already rolled over on his other side, and was back to sleep. Hermione smiled a loving smile, and headed out of their bedroom, making for the nursery. When she got there, Brianna was sitting up in her crib, just crying away.

"Now, what's going on here, little miss?" Hermione asked gently, walking over to the crib and pulling her daughter into her arms. "You're wet. Clean diaper then food I suppose."

Hermione carried the infant, who was still crying, but not as loudly to the changing table, where she used her wand to change Brianna's wet diaper. Once that was done, Hermione carried her over to the glider rocker, where she sat and nursed. While Brianna ate, Hermione sat thinking about the last seven months.

After Brianna's birth, she and Dean stayed with Sam and Bobby for a month. It had been a wonderful month, and one she was not likely to forget. Dean, the day after she was born, had commandeered Sam, and they'd both gone baby shopping. So, they spent the month tripping over all the baby stuff Sam and Dean had decided were "needed." Brianna was very much loved, having barely been put down, even after she'd fallen asleep, by Sam, Dean, and Bobby. Hermione even had to break up a couple of arguments over who's turn it was to hold her.

Hermione smiled softly thinking about how Brianna had wrapped the big, bad hunters around her tiny little fingers. Sam and Bobby were sad to see them return to England at the end of March. Minerva had arranged for a special portkey to transport the little family to Hogwarts, where they were received with much fanfare. Ginny and Hannah had fawned over the baby, while Harry and Ron teased Hermione and Dean about how much of a heartbreaker she was going to be when she got older. Poor Dean had looked bewildered, before declaring sternly that she was never allowed to date, ever. Hermione had just given him an elbow in the ribs in response.

When they had gotten to Minerva's office, she took Brianna right from her mother's arms before launching into an explanation to Dean of what accepting the position of Supernatural Professor would entail. He accepted happily, wrapping an arm around Hermione's waist. It was proclaimed done, and they were served tea and finger sandwiches. Minerva continued to hold the precious Brianna for the rest of their visit with her.

Their summer was spent playing with Brianna, and preparing for the upcoming term. The members of the rebuild team that had not accepted teaching positions, had left Hogwarts for their various homes. Harry and Ginny got engaged shortly after Hermione and Dean's return, and moved to London. They'd left just as Harry was starting the Auror program, and Ginny was going to work as the Quiddich correspondent for The Daily Prophet. Ron had left for London with his sister and Harry, also choosing to be an Auror alongside Harry. He and Hannah had decided on a long-distance relationship, as she wanted to stay in Hogsmeade and run the Leaky Cauldron. Luna, despite being a little put out that she wasn't able to deliver Brianna, was ultimately happy, her practice expanding a bit. She was also continuing a long-distance relationship with Neville, who was staying on at Hogwarts as the Herbology Professor.

Now, here they were, September 1, the first day of a new term. Hermione was excited, Dean was nervous. He'd been making regular calls to Bobby to get his opinions as to what he should teach for each grade year. Sam traveled by portkey, about once a month since they came back, and he assisted Dean as much as he could to set up the classroom. It didn't help that Dean also kept getting lost in the castle. One day in August, after getting so hopelessly lost that Hermione and Harry had gone searching for him, Harry enchanted a non-magical copy of the Marauder's Map to help him get around. Marking the important places with a red "x," places like their residence, Dean's classroom, Hermione's classroom, Minerva's office, the Great Hall, and all the various lavatories around.

Hermione closed her eyes in a moment of content, only to pop them open when she heard a familiar whoosh of wings. Opening an eye, she saw Castiel standing in the corner of Brianna's nursery.

"Oh." Castiel said, his cheeks turning a slight shade of pink at the sight of an exposed Hermione.

"Well, hello Cas." Hermione greeted jovially. She stood from the rocker and grabbed a blanket to cover herself.

"I felt Brianna's distress." Castiel replied.

"She got hungry, and she needed a diaper change." Hermione explained.

Castiel had met Brianna when he'd flown into her hospital room in the middle of the night, startling everyone. Dean had insisted Castiel hold the baby, despite the reluctant angel's protest. If it were possible, it could be said that he had fallen in love with the baby too. He took it upon himself to be the guardian angel to the newest Winchester. He had given up The Garrison, and his fight for humanity to watch one little human girl grow up safe and happy. As Castiel liked to say: "I don't fight anymore, I watch the baby." Now that he'd flown into Hogwarts once, he was able to do so more, with minimal risk to his life.

"She seems content now." Castiel observed.

Brianna had finished her morning meal, so Hermione situated her clothes back to their proper state before placing the baby over her shoulder to burp. "She is content. Dry diaper, full tummy. Who wouldn't be content after all that?" It wasn't long after that, Castiel had taken the baby from Hermione, and shooed her out of the room so that she could get ready for the day.

The day ended up going rather smoothly for everyone, save for Castiel. It was with great mortification he showed her parents a diaper that was on backwards, and accompanying story about how he'd ended up with her in his hands, her onsie unsnapped, diaper off, while she was pinching his nose and giggling. Both Dean and Hermione laughed at the poor angel, assuring him that it would get easier.

December

By the time, Christmas rolled around, everyone had hit their stride. Dean was feeling more and more comfortable teaching, and doing research for hunters on occasion. He was also happy being with the woman he loved, and his beautiful daughter. Yeah, sometimes he felt the itch to hunt, but Hermione could sense those times, usually sending him off to Bobby's for a weekend. She ended up being perfect for him.

Christmas morning dawned snowy, but perfect. Bobby and Sam had traveled to Hogwarts via portkey, and were staying with them so they could experience Brianna's first Christmas. At ten months old, she was crawling everywhere, and curious about everything. Brianna of course was the first Winchester awake, babbling and giggling in her crib. Before her parents could hear her, Bobby heard, and went to her. Hermione and Dean woke to hear Bobby carry on a sweet, one-sided conversation with her. In fact, even when she started to get fussy for breakfast, Hermione was still snuggled into Dean's side, his arm around her shoulders, listening to Bobby attempt to calm her. When her fussing started to build to full blown crying, Hermione finally got up, throwing on a fleece bathrobe, and relieved Bobby of Brianna.

By the time Brianna was done eating, everyone else was up and dressed. Bobby and Sam were both wearing their best jeans and plaid, but Dean; what he was wearing made Hermione's mouth water instantly. He was wearing black dress pants, a white button up with the sleeves cuffed to the elbow, and a red and silver striped tie. When Hermione entered the living space, Dean relieved her of Brianna with a quick kiss to the lips, so she could get dressed. Hermione dressed in a full, red skirt and black shirt with ¾ length sleeves. She tamed her curls as best she was able before sliding on a pair of black flats and exiting the bedroom. At the same time, Dean was exiting the nursery holding Brianna, who was dressed in a red dress with a black sweater.

"Why are you so dressed up?" Hermione finally asked Dean the question burning in the back of her brain since he'd gotten dressed.

"It's Bri's first Christmas." Dean shrugged off her question nonchalantly.

The base of the Christmas tree had dozens of presents, most of them for the baby. Hermione held Brianna on her lap as Dean grabbed the presents and opened them for her. He'd hold out each toy or outfit she'd gotten, letting her grab it from his hand and immediately shove it in her mouth, much to the amusement of every adult. The last gift under the tree was one Sam, who'd been helping his brother sort presents, announced as: to Hermione from Dean. Hermione reached for the box, but Dean intercepted it.

He situated himself on the floor in front of Hermione, on both knees. He took her free hand in his and cleared his throat. Hermione looked at him, her eyebrows pulled together in confusion.

"Hermione, I love you. Thank you for the gift of Brianna, and you. Will you be my wife?" He asked, opening the box with one hand, showing her the gold diamond solitaire inside. The ring he had Sam bring with him from the States, his mother's engagement ring.

Hermione's eyes filled with tears, and Sam quietly moved to her, and took Brianna from her lap. "Yes!" Hermione exclaimed, throwing herself off the couch, into his lap, hugging him around the neck tightly.

Bobby and Sam clapped, and Dean kissed his love deeply. As he slid the ring on Hermione's left ring finger, he heard Bobby say: "Well Brianna, your daddy is finally making an honest woman of your mom."

March

It had been two years. Two years to the day since Dean and Hermione had met, and a lot had happened in that time. Some days it felt like fifty had passed, other times it seemed only yesterday. Today though, had a completely different feeling to it. Instead of despair, there was anticipation, joy, and love. Today was the day Hermione Granger would become Hermione Winchester.

Hermione was in a room with Hannah, Ginny, Luna, Brianna, and her mother, getting ready. Minerva, as a Christmas/engagement gift, had hired a memory charm expert to find her parents and reverse the mind wipe Hermione had performed. Her parents had returned to England, excited to see their only daughter. They weren't prepared to meet her fiancée and daughter though. They handled it well, warmly embracing both Dean and Brianna. The wedding was being held in Lawrence, Kansas, Dean's only request during the planning. Not only was it where his parents were from, and were married, but also the same town they'd met.

It was nearing time for the ceremony, and they had just finished getting Hermione in her dress. It was ivory, instead of the traditional white. It was a simple lace gown, with illusion tank straps, a bow at the waist, and a short train trailing behind her. Instead of wearing the traditional veil, Hermione just had the woman doing her hair keep it in a half up hairstyle that swept down over one shoulder. Simple elegance was the look she had been going for, and she'd achieved it. When it was time, her father came to get the girls. She was so happy her father was walking her down the aisle. The girls lined up in the vestibule of the chapel, along with Bobby and Castiel. Bobby was walking Luna down the aisle first, followed by Castiel escorting Hannah, then last would be a very pregnant Ginny Potter, walking with a toddling Brianna.

Dean watched as his father figure escorted Luna in the one shoulder, purple dress Hermione had picked out for her girls. They were followed by his friend Cas, with Hannah. Castiel looked mostly embarrassed, and very awkward as he fulfilled his duty as groomsman. Ginny was next, holding hands with his daughter. His daughter was a beautiful vision in an ivory, short sleeved dress, and puffy tulle skirt. Her shoulder length brown curls were pulled up off her neck. Dean grinned at her, just as she dropped Ginny's hand and took off, toddling as fast as she could towards him.

"Da-da!" She exclaimed. Everyone "awed" as Dean squatted down to catch Brianna, lifting her up in his arms. She wrapped her little arms around his neck, and stared at her uncles and Grandpa Bobby, as Dean looked down the aisle, waiting to see his fiancée. The music changed, and the doors to the vestibule opened to reveal Hermione on the arm of her father. Dean's throat tightened uncomfortably with emotion. He always thought her beautiful, but now she just plain looked radiant. Her brown eyes locked on his, shining with unshed tears, and an immense amount of love. Once they reached the end of the aisle, Mr. Granger placed Hermione's hand delicately in his calloused ones.

"Ladies and gentlemen, muggles and wizards, you're here to witness the marriage of my best childhood friend, Hermione Granger, to her only love, Dean Winchester." Harry introduced. "I remember the day these two told me they were engaged." Hermione glared at her best friend. "I told her that I didn't care how I had to, but I would be performing her marriage ceremony. Well, Hermione, I told you so!"

"Get on with it." Hermione whispered, as Dean snickered quietly beside her, Brianna still sitting on one of her dad's arms.

"At this time, I invite Dean and Hermione to pledge themselves together through the exchanging of vows. Oh, Dean, I'd advise putting something in there about obeying." Harry joked.

The couple turned to face each other, and Minerva bustled between them to take Brianna from Dean. Once Brianna was taken from him, he turned to take Hermione's other hand in his. Hermione took the lead, and recited her vows first.

"Dean, I never expected a portkey to crash land me into your life, and when it did, I never expected to fall in love with you. However, I did crash land into your life, and I did fall in love with you. I consider myself the luckiest witch of my age to be loved by you, and our daughter. With you, my life is complete. I promise, I will love you for the rest of my life, I promise to always stand beside you, always fight together any forces that may attempt to separate us. Oh, and I promise to make you pie, at the minimum once a year." Hermione replied, her part about pie stretching his smile into a full-blown grin. When Dean didn't immediately begin to speak, Harry very loudly cleared his throat at him.

Dean blushed a very slight shade of pink, before launching into his very simple vows. "Hermione, you gave me two precious gifts, ones that I don't deserve. You, your love, and Brianna. I promise to love you both for as long as I'm breathing. I promise to try not driving you crazy when I get the urge to hunt. I promise to treat you as my equal, always. I promise to protect you from any threat, and I promise to be the best husband, friend, and partner."

Hermione's hands squeezed his gently, accepting his promises to her. "Now, I read somewhere in my training that you have to say some words when you exchange your wedding rings. One of you, just repeat after me."

Hermione took Dean's ring from Ginny, and placed it at the second knuckle on his left ring finger, then pinned Harry with an expectant look.

"I Hermione, take you Dean, to be my husband. To have and to hold, in sickness and in health, for richer or for poorer, and I promise my love to you forevermore." She recited after Harry, sliding the band into place once she'd completed the saying.

Sam, standing as Dean's best man, dropped Hermione's ring into Dean's hand. In a similar fashion, he slid the ring to her knuckle where he held it while he repeated his vow to her.

"I Dean, take you Hermione, to be my wife. To have and to hold, in sickness and in health, for richer or for poorer, and I promise my love to you forevermore." He said, sliding the band until it rested against the diamond engagement ring.

"Hermione, you promise to love Dean for the rest of your life, right?" Harry asked, eyes frantically scanning the piece of paper in his hand.

"I do." Hermione replied with a small laugh at Harry's forgetfulness.

"Dean, you promise to love Hermione for the rest of your life, right?" Harry repeated the question.

"That's what I just said!" Dean exclaimed, to be met with a pointed look from Harry. "Fine, I do."

"Thank goodness, you're now husband and wife officially, congratulations. Now Dean can kiss Hermione for the first time as his wife." Harry announced.

Dean stepped closer to Hermione, and lifted his hands to her face. Taking her cheeks in his hands, he pressed his lips reverently to hers. She had her hands resting on Dean's waist, meeting his reverence with equal love, and tenderness. They were almost lost in the kiss when a little hand tugged, one on the skirt of Hermione's dress, one on the leg of Dean's tux trousers. They laughed, and looked down to see Brianna standing beside them. Dean scooped their daughter into his arms, and they both kissed her on each cheek.

"Hey everybody! Meet Mr. and Mrs. Winchester with their daughter, Brianna Hope Winchester!" Harry announced loudly from behind the family.

Turning to face their applauding friends and family, Hermione slipped her hand into Dean's, and he shifted their daughter to one arm. It was in that moment, the couple finally felt their lives were complete. This was what they had been looking for, and had found it with each other.


End file.
